


Wait For Me To Come Home

by ByTheSea19



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:40:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 35,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24206848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ByTheSea19/pseuds/ByTheSea19
Summary: After Sergio and the gang manage to escape the Royal Mint with the millions of euros, Raquel is left behind, not only with a broken heart and with her reputation ruined... soon after she discovers that she's expecting a child from Sergio.What will she do now pregnant, alone, jobless, with a daughter and a sick mother?Will she find Sergio?
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 250
Kudos: 454





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, so, this is the very first fic I've written in my life, please bear with me, I really hope you like it!
> 
> I also have the idea of writing a fic set at the end of season 4, in which Raquel also discovers she's pregnant. In fact that was my original idea before writing this one.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

_Six months._

Six months had passed since the historic heist to the Royal Mint of Spain.

_Six months_

Raquel Murillo couldn’t believe it. Some days it felt it had been years ago, and others, like today, it felt it had only been yesterday, a mere sigh. A snap of fingers and it was over.

One moment she was in his arms and the next her own fellows held her by the arms, those same arms that Salva... _Sergio_ had previously run with soft caresses were roughly and mercilessly squeezed as they subjected her and threatened her for information about " _The Professor_ ".

So long ago, almost another life, _almost_... Raquel just sighed and continued watching television while enjoying her Nutella ice cream, with mustard, her greatest craving in recent months. Looking down, her bulging belly reminded her that no, it hadn’t been in another life, it hadn’t been an out-of-body experience. It had been only six months ago, it had happened to her and not only it had left her with a broken heart but also with a child who would be born sooner than she was ready for.

She felt _really_ lost. Her mom’s health, although gradually, kept getting worse. Alberto was being relentless in his legal fight for Paula’s custody. Her savings were running out and on top of that, she was unemployed. The bastards had pushed her to the edge, until one day she couldn't take it anymore and resigned.

The constant incriminating looks, the gossip behind her back and the distrust led her to one day simply pass her resignation. Deep down she knew that was what they wanted, however, being pregnant they couldn’t risk dismissing her. She was no longer the brilliant Inspector Murillo, she was a traitor who got involved with the most wanted criminal in all Spain, maybe all the world, and who was now expecting a child of said criminal. Angel was the only one who hadn’t turned his back on her, living up to his name and behaving like real angel to her. Still, she knew she was truly screwed.

Although she knew she had to end this sway of self-pity, that she had a sick mother and now _two_ children to provide for and that she had to find a job as soon as possible. It was also true that it was increasingly difficult, there were more sorrows than joys. She wanted to run away, drop everything and run away.

_Don't you want to get away?_

Sergio's words echoed in her head. Of course she wanted to, but now it was impossible. There was no way. She was screwed and he was who knows where.

Raquel let out a shaky breath, this was being too much for her.

"Thinking of that man again." Her mother's voice speaking to her from the doorway startled her. Today was one of those rare very good days for Mariví, and Raquel couldn't be more grateful, she needed some good and wise words from her mother.

She gave her a shy smile and shrugged. "Tell me how not to. His child grows inside me.” She patted her belly.

Mariví sat on the bed next to her daughter and wrapped her in her arms, kissing her on the head. At the same time, she took the remote control and turned off the television, they had started talking about Raquel and she knew that the last thing her daughter needed at the moment was to witness the scrutiny of the national press.

"What am I going to do, mom?" Raquel asked her mother, sounding like a lost child.

Mariví sighed, there were so many things she wanted to say to her daughter, really, so many that she even wrote them all down in her little post-it’s, but she feared that perhaps her words would be too much to handle in her vulnerable state.

"Have you thought about Angel's proposal?" Mariví inquired tentatively.

Raquel detached from her mother's arms and frowned at her, extremely astonished. She couldn’t be serious. “Mom, that was just an impulse from Angel, something of the moment! Also, I can't do this to him, to him or my baby. You didn't raise me to do that!”

A couple of months ago, during a _very_ emotional conversation she had with Angel in which even he tried to kiss her, he offered to provide and take care of her, her mother, Paula and the baby, take the baby as his own and raise it as his own. Obviously Raquel had refused, Angel apologized and promised not to talk about it ever again.

Raquel turned back to Mariví's arms and the two women remained silent for a few seconds until Raquel couldn't hold it anymore, she huffed and started to cry, hiding her face in her mother's neck, as she did as a child when she arrived home from school and someone had been mean to her. Or as she did when she grew up, and Alberto unleashed his fury against her.

"Cry, my girl, cry all you want and need." Mariví comforted her daughter while hugging her tightly.

"How do I do this, mom?!" She sobbed.

Mariví took her daughter's face in her warm hands, wiping her tears with her thumbs. "You are a strong woman, I am sure of that because I raised you, but now... well, now you are going through a rough patch, but honey, I have seen you come out of worse circumstances, and I have seen you come out stronger, I know that you will also get out of this stronger.”

"I don't know how to begin. I swear I want, Mom. For you, for Paula, for this baby. But I can't, no matter how hard I try I can't!”

"Honey, no one said it would be easy, it will take time."

"But I don't have time!" Raquel cried. She realized she was being unfair talking this way to her mother, she only wanted to help. She sighed and ran her hand through her brown hair. "I have Paula and Alberto who wants to take her from me and this baby who will soon be born and I have no job and-and—"

"But you have to start now, whether you want it or not!" Mariví knew she was being hard on her daughter, but she knew her, she knew that sometimes she had to be a little bit too blunt with her for her to understand things. If it wasn't now, maybe she would never tell her what she had wanted to tell her for so long.

“Accept it, that man is gone, and surely you will never see him again. It's time to move on, you can't slow down, you can't stop now! I get you, darling, I swear I get you. I also felt the world was coming down on me when your father died, but for you and your sister... you two gave me the strength to keep going. Look for that strength in Paula, in this baby.” Raquel looked at her mother with an expression of pure perplexity. It had been a long time since her mother had spoken so eloquently.

"Wake up, darling! You're not in a position to slow down. _We_ are not in a position to slow down and first start by leaving this room, go out, spend time with Paula, get ready for the baby’s birth, I don’t know, keep your mind busy. Life is too short to slow down."

Raquel was speechless, her mother's words had been like a ton of bricks falling over her head. Maybe it was the wakeup call she needed. Mariví was right, she couldn’t slow down, for her, for Paula and for the new baby.

Her children, now the most important thing should be her children. Her little Paula, with whom she had barely spent time with and not to mention the baby, she hadn’t bought a single item for its arrival, even worse, she still didn’t wrap her head around the idea that she was pregnant, there were occasions that, if it wasn’t for her bulging belly, she completely forgot she was expecting. She had to start changing that, and she had to do it now.

Raquel nodded, wiping the tears away with her hand. "You are right, mom. You are always right.” Again she threw herself into her mother's arms, kissing her on the cheek and hugging her as if her life depended on her.

" _Mommy?_ " Little Paula watched the scene from the doorway.

"Paula, darling." Raquel looked at her daughter with a tight smile. A fake smile, she had become an expert at masking her pain behind smiles, she hated the idea of her daughter seeing her suffer.

The little girl went to where her mom and grandma were and stood in front of her mom. "Mommy, are you crying? Is my sister? Is she making you cry?” The little girl asked, placing her hands on her mother's belly, feeling how her sibling moved inside.

Raquel couldn't help but chuckle. For real. "No my love, your sister isn’t making me cry." She replied, combing her daughter's soft hair with her fingers.

"So sister, huh?" Mariví said with a curious expression. Since Raquel gave the news to Paula that she was going to be a big sister, she had been _very_ excited, and since then she was convinced that she was having a little sister, she refused to accept that it could be a boy, something that Raquel found equally adorable and frightening. She feared that she would reject the baby if it turned to be a boy.

"Yes!" Paula gushed, hugging Raquel and placing her little face on her bump.

The action touched Raquel. She inhaled deeply to control her emotions and avoid crying again.

“Hey, look! It has stopped raining!" Mariví pointed out. "Why don't we go for a walk in the park?" She suggested.

"Yes, let’s go!" Paula exclaimed.

Raquel made a face, she really preferred to stay home. But then she remembered her mother's words, she had to start doing her part, soon there would be no time for more self-pity, Paula, her mother and the baby would depend on her 24/7.

It was time to let it go. Sergio was no longer here, he was gone. He was surely on a paradise island enjoying the millions of euros he and the gang had printed six months ago. Probably he was already with someone else, who knows. But he was no longer here, with her, and he will never know that he will be a father, that they will be parents together. It was useless to keep crying for what could have been but never will.

What hurt her the most was that he hadn't come back for her, or at least made an attempt to contact her. They had made plans to escape together, away from everything and everyone.

_"Raquel, I don't want this to wear off. I don't want to ignore this desire to feel alive. I’ve never felt it this strongly.”_

_"You would cross the ocean with a mother, a daughter, and a grandmother?"_

_"Right now, I would."_

But he didn’t. He just took his money and left, without leaving a single sign. Nothing.

"Okay. Let's go!" Raquel agreed to go out with her mother and daughter, a little walk in the park wouldn’t hurt anyone. She could use some physical activity. "Just give me a few minutes to change my clothes. Paula, go put on your rain boots.”

The little girl obeyed her mother immediately and ran to her bedroom. Mariví gave her daughter a sweet smile and after stroking her cheek she also left the room.

Shaking, or at least trying to shake the bad thoughts from her mind, Raquel got out of bed to change her clothes. But her attempts didn't last long, her mind always went back to the same place. _Sergio_.

_"Let's go away. I wrap up this cider thing in a few days and we go to a Caribbean country.”_

Palawan. They had agreed to go to Palawan, that although it wasn’t the Caribbean it was far from everything and with him, she would go anywhere. _Naïve_ , she thought.

Raquel suddenly remembered the postcards Sergio had given her that day. The same day that she discovered the whole truth. It was still hard for her to believe how that wonderful moment collapsed in an instant.

Trying to remember where she had left those postcards, she headed for the bookcase. She was sure they were among the pages of one of those books. When she finally found it, she took it and returned to her room, closing the door behind her.

Sitting on the bed she placed the four postcards over the quilt. Hovering them with her hands, almost touching them with the tips of her fingers, as if fearing that if she touched them they would disappear and she’d lose the last thing she had left of Sergio. But then a strong kick from her baby reminded her that more than the cards, from now on she would have a permanent reminder of her brief love story with him.

She smiled sadly and rubbed her belly gently. "You and your sister could’ve grown up on a sunny beach." She mumbled, almost on the verge of crying.

Taking Palawan's postcard between her fingers she couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek. She imagined her and Sergio walking along the seashore, one hand holding his and the other over her bump, Paula ahead jumping the waves and writing in the sand with a stick.

But then she turned the card over.

Ironically that turn would come to turn her entire life around too.

Noticing the peculiar inscription on the corner of the card, Raquel felt curious. She tried to find a shape by looking at it from all possible angles, until she turned another card over and there was another inscription on the corner. Then the other and then the other. All four had something drawn on one of the corners.

Bringing all the corners together in a way that made sense, the inscriptions throw a kind of coordinate map at her. Her heart began to pound and her hands began to shake.

What was this?

_"Raquel!"_

_"Mommy!"_

Mariví and Paula called her from downstairs, waiting for her to go on her walk in the park. But Raquel couldn’t answer back, she couldn’t react. She was trying to solve the puzzle Sergio had left for her on the back of the postcards.

_"I's a plan B."_

With a trembling hand, Raquel took her cell phone and opened the map app, entering the coordinates inscribed on the postcards.

The result almost sent her heart to cardiac arrest.

It was Puerto Princesa.

It was Palawan.

He had left her a clue.

He really had a _plan B_...

* * *

** _TO BE CONTINUED..._ **


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Could this be...?

No, it was too perfect to be true. And if so, why Palawan? Why _exactly_ the place on the postcard that she gave him to choose randomly? No, this could be anything and she was twisting it into _just_ what she wanted to see.

But then, although she met him only for a few days, it was enough to remember the meticulousness with which Sergio handled each and every one of the aspects of the heist to realize that nothing he did was merely a coincidence or had no reason to be.

_It’s a plan B_

Plan B, he always had a plan B. Always one step ahead, always preventing tragedy even before it happened. Thinking in hindsight, she concluded that he knew it, he knew that there was a big chance that she would discover the whole truth, so since then he already had a plan B... Palawan was his plan B. The cards were his plan B. The coordinates were his plan B.

But what if not? That other part of her mind asked, the pessimistic one. No, no, no, these coordinates must have a reason to be.

Then it hit her like lightning. Overwhelming. Deafening. Blinding.

_Enlightening._

_“Sooner or later, all this will end. And you and I will meet on a beach.”_

You and I will meet on a beach...

That was it! That was all she needed. It was more than clear, he had written the coordinates of the place where he would be, as a backup plan, so that she would join him on the beach when it all was over.

Raquel started to feel extremely dizzy, the throbbing in her head was unbearable. What she had just discovered changed everything, the question now was, what should she do?

Leave everything and go find him?

She had to sit on the bed otherwise she’d pass out face down on the floor. Just then her mother and Paula were yelling for her to go to the park and her cell phone started ringing, it was Ángel. The yells and the ring of the cell phone only exacerbated her headache, which was now accompanied by a suffocating pressure on her chest and multiple jabs from the baby who felt her distress.

Paula, her mother, the phone, the postcards, the baby. Paula, her mother, the phone, the postcards, the baby. Over and over again. She couldn't react, she didn't know what to attend first, she was completely blocked.

 _"Mommy, come on!"_ Paula made her react, although she did it with a loud gasp, looking at her daughter panting. "Mommy?” Paula cautiously approached her, looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine, honey! I just, I have to return a call, tell Grandma that I'll be downstairs right away. Go!"

Paula didn't seem very convinced, but she left the room nevertheless. Raquel took a few deep breaths to try to collect herself. What she had just discovered was life changing, but she still couldn't tell anyone.

Taking her cell phone, which had stopped ringing, she called Ángel back.

"Ángel, what’s up?!"

_"Raquel, I've been calling you like crazy, I need to see you, it's urgent!"_

"Urgent? What about?"

_"I would rather tell you in person, I can only tell you that it’s about Alberto and Paula."_

Raquel swallowed and a chill ran down her spine. "O-ok, is tonight ok, at Hanoi?"

_"Yes, yes. Is 7pm okay?”_

"Perfect."

Now what? She couldn't catch a break? Just when it seemed that she was starting to solve the mystery of Sergio's whereabouts, now this was coming and she was terrified. Alberto was acting like a fighting dog. He was determined not only to take Paula away from her, but also to ruin her completely, he wanted to destroy her.

Throughout the walk in the park, Raquel's mind went from Sergio to Ángel and whatever he had to say about Alberto. If it wasn't for her mother holding her arm, she would have walked without looking where she stepped on. She was lost in her mind while being carried away like a leaf by the wind.

"Honey, is something bothering you?" Her mother and a light squeeze on her hand brought her back to reality.

Raquel smiled slightly at her mother. She wanted to tell her everything, but she knew this was not the best time or the best place. First she wanted to talk to Ángel, and based on what he had to say, see what her next step would be. "Nothing happens, mom."

"Paula told me that you didn’t look well when she came up to look for you."

“It was nothing, just a dizzy spell, nothing more. You know how pregnancy is.” She answered, trying to look nonchalantly.

“Oh honey, you've been taking so little care of yourself lately. Remember, it's not just you!” Mariví patted Raquel's baby belly softly, she smiled and looked down, joining her hand to her mother's.

"I know, but I promise you that’s about to change. I swear." She assured her mother who smiled warmly at her.

Later that day, Raquel was on her way to meet Ángel and again her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, so she decided to turn on the radio to distract a bit. On the first station was the news, talking about the heist as it had been practically every day for the past 6 months.

"Have they nothing else to talk about?!" Raquel grumbled aloud and changed the station.

_“En Madrid está lloviendo y todo sigue como siempre, solamente que no estás y el tiempo pasa lentamente. Estoy loco por que vuelvas hace tanto que te fuiste, no te irás a enamorar allí, lo prometiste…” (*)_

"Uuugh". Raquel gagged, frowned and changed station. She was not in the mood for Alejandro Sanz and his sad songs, especially _that_ one. On second thought, if there was a song that best described her current situation, it was that one. She went back to that station.

“Me paso el día planeando nuestro encuentro imaginario." (**) Raquel muttered along with the singer. Indeed, she had imagined their encounters countless times. All possible scenarios, from the most tragic to the corniest. All of them. It was her favorite pastime, imagining what their reunion would be like in some Caribbean country, on a paradise beach.

Then, shamelessly, she just sang-yelled at the top of her lungs. “Te besaré, como nadie en este mundo te besó. Te amaré, con el cuerpo, con la mente, con la piel y el corazón. Vuelve pronto te esperamos, mi soledad y yo…” (***) She knew that he wouldn’t come back, but what she was sure of was that she would kiss the life out of him if one day she saw him again.

When she finally arrived at the Hanoi, she noticed that Ángel was very anxious, she could see his leg bouncing up and down and he was playing with his hands nervously.

"Raquel!" He exclaimed when he saw her, standing up to greet her.

"Ángel, what’s going on?! Why do you look so anxious?!” She asked immediately.

"Do you want to order something?" He offered.

"No, just tell me what's going on, seeing you this anxious makes me feel more anxious!”

They both sat down, but Ángel didn’t know how to break the news to Raquel. He feared they would be too much for her, he cared for her and hated to see her suffer. He also feared that the news might be too much in her condition.

"Just speak out, Ángel! I can take it, I'm not made of glass!” Raquel was going crazy.

Ángel took a deep breath. "Judge Carmona, the one who is taking the case for Paula´s custody... well, a friend of mine, very close to him, told me that Alberto has been seen on multiple occasions by his office."

"That mother fucker!" Raquel growled through clenched teeth.

"But that's not all, Raquel." Angel added. "This same friend told me that it’s practically a fact that Carmona will grant full custody of Paula to Alberto."

Raquel felt her soul leave her body. Again feeling light-headed and stunned. "Raquel, are you alright?!" Angel asked with concern.

"He-he can’t do that! We still have a couple more hearings. He can't do that, Angel!” Raquel shouted almost on the verge of tears.

"He is an asshole. But I swear to you, Raquel, that I will help you in any way I can, of that you can be sure.”

Raquel gave him a sad smile and took his hand across the table. "Thank you, thank you for being a true friend, for not turning your back on me."

"I never would. Not even after you called me Don Pimpón.”

Raquel couldn't help but laugh, although soon her laughter turned into a whimper and laid her head in her hands. "I'm so tired, Angel."

"We will fight for Paula, we will call Jiménez from family affairs and, I don’t know, we will appeal or counter-sue. You will see how Paula stays with you.”

Raquel really was so tired and she felt so defeated and so small next to Alberto’s power that she had no energy to even comment on Angel's words. However, at the same time a window of possibilities opened before her.

If those coordinates were really what she thought they were, that meant that Sergio would be waiting for her, which translated into the possibility of taking her mother and especially Paula, away from Alberto's reach. She had made a decision. This was her plan B.

Once back home, Raquel hurried to her room, she had no time to waste.

"Mom! Mom!" She yelled as soon as she opened the door, running up the stairs.

Once in her room, she turned on the computer and while searching for the first flight to the Philippines, she randomly threw clothes into a suitcase she had taken from the closet.

"Honey, what's happening?! Why those screams?! Are you okay, is it the baby?!” Mariví hurried into her room, fearing that something had happened to her or the baby. "What’s all this?!" She asked when she saw the suitcase on Raquel's bed.

"I'm leaving." Raquel replied as if it wasn't a big deal while scrolling through the airline page, booking her flight which luckily she managed to find a place for the next day at 6pm. It was a nearly 20-hour flight with a stopover in Istanbul, and then another from Manila to Puerto Princesa, but she didn't mind. She must find Sergio as soon as possible. For her, for them, for Paula and for her unborn child.

"WHAT?! How is that you’re leaving?!” Mariví exclaimed deeply confused. "Have you lost your mind, my dear?!"

"I can't tell you much now, Mom, but it's for Paula's and the baby's sake, and for yours, too." Raquel answered while she kept throwing clothes to her suitcase.

"But how can you leave like this? What about us, Paula and me? And the baby? Can you travel in your condition? But more importantly, how many days will you be away?”

"You are going to be fine, it will only be a week at the most, and if everything goes as I hope I will be back for you and Paula. And tomorrow morning I will go with to my OB for a travel license. There is nothing to worry about."

"Oh honey, but where are you going?! With whom?!" Mariví insisted, still confused by her daughter's actions.

"For your safety I cannot tell you where or with whom I am going."

"I’m your mother, you don’t fool me. You’re going after that man, right?”

Shit. Mariví, even with the deterioration of her health and everything, was still quite perspicacious. "I-I…" Raquel stuttered, not knowing how to answer that.

Mariví took Raquel by the hands, forcing her to look her in the eye. "Go find him, tell him everything, make love a thousand times."

"MOM!" Raquel exclaimed blushing.

Mariví laughed. "We will be fine and we will be waiting." Then she kissed her on the forehead. "It’s time for you to finally be happy, my love." Both women shared a tight and emotional hug.

When the moment finally came, Raquel walked with trembling legs toward the boarding gate of the plane that would, hopefully, take her to the love of her life, anxious of what was waiting for her...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raquel is on her way to Palawan! What will she find there?  
> While I'm posting I'm writing the next chapter, I hope to have it ready very soon!
> 
> (*) In Madrid it's raining and everything is the same as always, only you are not here and time goes by slowly. I'm crazy for you to came back it's been so long since you left, you won't fall in love over there, you promised… ”  
> (**) I spend the day planning, our imaginary meeting  
> (***) I will kiss you, as no one in this world kissed you. I will love you, with the body, with the mind, with the skin and the heart. Come back soon, we wait for you, my loneliness and I…”


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

After so many hours of travel Raquel was completely exhausted. Crossing part of the world, sitting for hours in the same position, going from airport to airport _and_ at the same time growing a little human had completely drained her.

When she finally arrived in Puerto Princesa it was already past 10pm. Raquel didn't even have a head to think about what her next move would be, she just wanted to find a nearby hotel and crash in bed, sleep and wake up preferably in a week. Very unlikely, but that's how tired she was.

When she finally managed to catch a taxi, she just asked the driver to take her to a nearby and comfortable hotel. In minutes they were there and soon after she was in her room.

Not even wanting to change her clothes, much less take a shower. Raquel turned on the AC and lay down on bed, groaning in relief and looking at the ceiling, running her hand gently up and down her bump. Suddenly, a slight jolt ran through her body, like a whiplash.

If Sergio had left the coordinates written there for her to find, that meant he was waiting for _her_ , surely not even in seven lives would he imagine what was to come. Now she moaned in frustration. But again, she was so tired that she didn't have the mental energy to go there.

Not without first letting Mariví know that she had arrived safe and sound, Raquel turned off the lights and opened the curtains to appreciate the black and starry sky with its beautiful waning moon. With that image, she fell fast asleep.

Hours later, Raquel woke up with a stifled gasp, sitting up in bed, her heart pounding and her scalp and neck sweaty. Apparently she had had a nightmare, but for the life of her she didn’t remember what she had dreamed of, but whatever it was, it managed to upset her enough to wake up like this.

When she managed to calm down a bit more, she took the bottle of water from the nightstand and drank most of it in one long gulp. Still a little disoriented and confused, Raquel looked at the window, based only on the brightness of the sun, she assumed that it couldn’t be past noon. Sighing, she took her cell phone, effectively, it was 11:30 am and she also had missed calls and messages from her mother and Ángel. Answering her mother and letting her know that she was still doing well and to give Paula a huge kiss from her part, she ignored Angel's, it wasn’t the time to explain herself.

Now, really, the time had come. Raquel wrapped her arms around her belly, her 26 week baby stirring softly inside her. She couldn’t help but smile. Although she didn't express it often, she _did_ love to be expecting a child again. With or without Sergio, deep down she was looking forward to having another baby, a brother or sister for Paula. Teeny tiny hands squishing her cheeks and giggles, chubby arms around her neck, sloppy kisses, a shrieking voice calling her _mommy_ , and yes, even tantrums. But those were always compensated a thousand times for everything listed before.

Without wasting any more time and after taking a well-deserved and necessary fresh shower, Raquel put on a light white cotton dress, applied a little makeup, combed her hair and then it was time.

She started shaking as soon as she set foot on the street. Being out there, among the people, in broad daylight and heading towards the exact point indicated by the coordinates on her cell phone was like a slap of reality. Now there was no going back, it was all or nothing. Literally. She was only a few minutes away from having it all or losing it all. Although not that there was much to lose.

Making her way through the crowd, the closer she got to the marked place her heart beat faster and faster. She was trying to distract with her surroundings, it was a beautiful and colorful place, nothing she had ever seen before in her life. People coming and going, peddlers, tourists here and there taking photos, but it wasn't enough to distract her.

Her heart in her throat, the sweat running behind her ears, her limbs quivering, her baby kicking like crazy, the sun burning her skin. It was relentless, stinging on her skin. Out of nowhere, and without knowing why, she remembered Alberto's blows. Punches and slaps against her skin that left that same burning sensation. So random. Why? Why did she remember that now? Her head was playing tricks on her.

Taking a deep breath, Raquel tried to shake the sour memory of Alberto with that of Sergio, but again, questions arose for which she didn’t have the answers and at the same time made her panic. Questions that anyone who knew about their situation would inevitably ask. What would she say? How would she stand in front of him? How would she tell him that she was carrying his child? What if she couldn't find him? What if he rejected her? She had risked so much to come to this place, she had practically left her mother and daughter and taken most of her savings to jump into the unknown.

Sergio was perhaps waiting to see _her_ , but now here she was with her pregnant being. They hardly knew each other and although yes, the chemistry and the connection between them was quite strong and special, they never spoke about a family, about children, and although he had accepted to take Paula with them to that heavenly beach, it wasn’t the same, he had no obligation on the little one. He was meticulous and calculating, and now she was about to come in like a wrecking ball with her belly _full_ of an unplanned obligation. She felt like crying.

 _I won’t cry. I won’t cry. I won’t cry._ Raquel repeated herself over and over with such conviction, hoping that the power of her words would have some effect, but it was all in vain, the tears and all the feeling of pain, loss, heartbreak and loneliness that she had repressed within her came out like an avalanche at the worst time and the worst place.

With her sight blurred by tears, Raquel kept walking among the sea of people who walked carefree and without giving her a second glance, living their lives. People bumping against her while she just tried to control the tears and shield her baby belly with her arms, looking for a less crowded place to catch a break.

Finding a bench in a somewhat isolated place, Raquel sat down and hiding her face in her hands, she wept as quietly and discreetly as possible. Although if it had been for her, she would have cried her heart out, she would have screamed, wail until she was dry inside, cry it all out.

When she was calmer, she wiped her tears away angrily and took a long breath. _Think, Raquel, think_. She had to flip the switch, she had promised it to her mother and she owed it to her children. If she didn’t find him, anyway, she had already lost him, and now perhaps also a large part of her savings that she badly needed. But if she _did_ find him... she just wanted to find him, the issue about their situation and the baby would come later, she knew that if she found him he wouldn’t refuse to help her and her family to leave Spain. Likewise, she wanted to believe he would do the right thing and not turn his back on his own flesh and blood.

Standing up with her head held high, she picked up her cell phone again. She was only a few meters from the indicated place. Walking and walking and although his legs still trembled, now her need to cry was replaced for an overwhelming adrenaline rush. She could almost feel it running through her veins, her blood on fire flowing from the tip of her head to the tip of her toes.

100 meters. 80 meters. 50 meters. 30 meters. Her heart on her throat. Involuntary spasms shaking her entire body. Her sweaty hands. She scanned her surroundings, looking for something that would give her a clue about Sergio. Someone, a place, even a damn statue. _Something_. But she couldn't find anything, or rather, nothing said anything to her. When she was finally in the _right_ point, her confusion and disappointment only grew wider. The location was, yes, breathtaking, one could even say it was little piece of heaven. A pond, a bar, and a kind of gazebo with a spectacular view of the Asian sea. But, now what?

Then she heard the annoying chirp of her cell phone, her battery had died. Dammit! She cursed internally. Going to the small bar in search of a charger she couldn’t help but have a kind of _déjà vu_. She smiled at the memory.

"Excuse me, do you have a charger?" Raquel asked the young Filipino in charge of the bar. He frowned at her. Damn her english. “A charger please, for the phone? Battery?" But the young man just shook his head. She sighed in annoyance.

_"If it’s important…"_

That voice!

Raquel felt all her blood fall to her feet. A man, sitting across the bar, in an ivory linen suit and hat turned to her.

It was him.

_Sergio._

Raquel held on to the edge of the bar so she wouldn't pass out right there. She no longer felt her heart beating in her throat. She no longer felt her heart whatsoever. She was completely numb.

" _...You can use mine_." She was speechless. But then he chuckled and she melted.

Raquel didn’t know how to proceed. What to do or what to say. And apparently neither did he. She could see how his eyes scanned her face, like trying to decide if what was in front of him was fantasy or reality. A sob was forming in her throat, she could feel it.

Then he noticed _it_.

He looked down and it didn't go unnoticed how his expression and even his entire body language changed. He tensed up, though he tried to hide it immediately. A nervous smile danced on his lips. He adjusted his glasses and took a deep breath.

"Raquel." He spoke in sigh...

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

"Raquel." He spoke in a choked sigh...

Neither of them knew how to proceed. Raquel looked at Sergio with a mixture of expectation and yes, also a little fear. All his body language just screamed _tension_ and his facial expression was unreadable, she couldn't tell if he was upset or not, what was clear was that he was shocked.

She darted her eyes at him, trying to encourage him to speak. Even the young bartender, who knew Sergio very well, stared at him with a confused expression. He went there each and every day and always ordered two glasses of wine. _Everyday_. Just as it was certain that the sun would rise in the east every morning, so it was that Sergio would be there, sitting, waiting for someone with a glass of wine. Sometimes waiting until dusk.

Raquel walked hesitantly to where Sergio was sitting, without loosen her grip to the edge of the bar for a single moment. Seeing the action, he shot up from his seat, but didn’t walk to meet her, he stayed there until Raquel was only centimeters from him. He could feel the heat of her body radiating towards him. Their gazes pinned on each other with thousands of interrogations.

"I don't even know where to begin." Raquel sobbed. At last she was able to find her voice, and although it wasn’t by far what she would’ve wanted to say, the truth was that, what is said in circumstances like these? There were so many pent up feelings that words weren’t enough.

Sergio smiled and Raquel relaxed her shoulders in relief. He smiled and that was something. "You are here." He mumbled and she bite her lips to keep from bursting into tears.

"It only took me six months." They both chuckled, still looking into each other's eyes.

Raquel couldn't contain herself anymore. It had been months of longing, months of loneliness, of missing and dreaming of him every single day. Without further thought, she pounced on him and kissed him fervently on the lips, taking him a bit by surprise, but he reacted in a split of second.

She dug her fingers into the soft black hair of his nape, forcing him to tilt down to make up for the height difference. At the same time, he brought her closer to him, taking her by the small of her back. They both kept kissing not caring about anything or anyone. Slowly but passionately, both in sync, as if only this morning they had kissed and not six months ago.

They were forced to stop for air, but still they couldn’t pull apart completely, resting their foreheads on each other’s, cupping their faces. Sergio rubbed Raquel's cheek gently with his thumbs as she did the same, rubbing the soft skin behind his ears with her fingers.

Raquel wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him to her in a hug and he immediately buried his nose into the soft waves of her brown hair. Inhaling her deeply, her scent fueling memories. Those memories that had kept him afloat in the last months.

Finally, she pulled back and stared into his eyes, with that look of hers that meant she was about to get serious. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

Sergio swallowed, adjusted his glasses and nodded nervously. But neither of them said anything. Sergio tried to find support in the bartender who had witnessed everything, but he had feigned indifference by cleaning some glasses but keeping an eye on the couple. The young man nodded toward the pair of glasses on the bar.

He cleared his throat and took the glass. "I - oh, no, you can't drink wine." They both chuckled nervously. "Do you want something to drink? Something to eat?"

They looked like a pair of nervous teenagers. "We can go eat something, if you want. I haven't had breakfast yet, I'm starving.”

"What?! Why?! Why haven’t you eaten?! You have to eat!" Sergio exclaimed in a slightly reprimanding tone, again adjusting his glasses over the bridge of his nose.

Raquel frowned, was this a scolding? Was he upset that she hadn't eaten? Was it wrong if she found it extremely adorable? Then she smiled. “It's been a crazy few days, you have no idea. Now take me out to eat and I'll tell you everything.”

"I know a place." Sergio didn’t know if he should take Raquel's hand or link his arm with hers, so he just made a gesture with his hand to show her the way. They both walked side by side making their way through the same crowd that Raquel had passed only moments before.

It was even busier, people were still minding their own business, and again, more than one person hit Raquel on their rushed walk, making Sergio feel that sentiment he hadn't experienced since that time when Raquel told him about her years of abuse. He wanted to protect her. It kicked in harder this time. He crossed his arm across her shoulders and with the other he led the way, shielding her, making sure no one bumped into her.

Raquel wanted to rest her weight against Sergio's side and sink her head into his neck. For the first time in a long time she felt safe, here, next to him, with his arm on her shoulders.

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at the small restaurant next to the coast line that Sergio liked so much, and also, Raquel managed to get her cell phone charged enough for it to turn on and check if she had any news from her mother. She had 4 voicemails, but she decided to hear them later.

They started with small talk, not addressing the elephant in the room just yet. Raquel didn’t know how to start the conversation, and Sergio kept giving her _that_ look, although soft, inquisitive. There were so many questions written in his eyes that it was difficult to choose just one to address.

"I know you're asking yourself a lot of questions." She started. "I know the last thing you expected was this," she pointed her hands at her belly. "And I would like to tell you something to ease your shock, but the truth is that even to this day I’m still in shock myself."

Sergio nodded comprehensively. "So... it's mine."

She huffed. "Of course. Did you doubt it?” There was a glimpse of fear in her voice.

"Not even a second." He stated. "I just wanted to hear it from your lips."

"Well!" Raquel exclaimed sarcastically, but her eyes reflected the opposite. Shining with contained tears. Sergio brought his hand across the table and although at first he hesitated, he took Raquel's hand in his, giving it a slight squeeze.

"You are not alone in this, you know that, right?"

Raquel immensely appreciated his comforting words, but she also felt that he had _no idea_ what parenthood entailed. She took back her hand and placed it on her belly.

“Sergio, a baby is not a heist. I think I got to know you well enough to know how much of a perfectionist and a planner you are. And now I come here, with a huge and unplanned responsibility. Fatherhood is hard, Sergio. It’s unforeseen, after unforeseen, after unforeseen, you cannot be in control of anything at all.”

Sergio adjusted his glasses and avoided looking Raquel in the eye, fixing his gaze on the waves that came and went only a few meters away.

"Sergio, look at me." He did and this time it was she who took his hand. "I swear I’ll understand if you want a way out. I swear. But I needed to come here, I needed you to know, I felt like I was drowning.”

Sergio put his hand over hers and smiled widely. “I’m aware that parenthood is hard. I'm a bit of a misfit, I've never felt any kind of romantic attraction for anyone… anyone, Raquel… until I met you. You taught me to see the world in a different light, so much that sometimes I didn't even recognize myself; I was willing to start a family with you, with your mother and with Paula… What makes you think that I won't want to do it with our own child?”

Raquel took a deep breath to keep from crying and took a paper napkin to wipe away her tears that had already clouded her eyes. "It will be hard." She reminded him. She was happy that Sergio had taken this, apparently, so well; but her insecurities still made her fear that he was doing it out of commitment and not because he _really_ wanted to. But he was a good man, after all, he had planned the heist of the century in honor of his father.

"Are you trying to scare me away, Inspector?" He joked in his best professor voice and Raquel burst out laughing.

"Just wait for the terrible twos."

"I think I have plenty of time to prepare."

"Good luck with that."

They both shared a laugh. It was so cathartic. Sergio swore that he would never see Raquel ever again, and now there wasn’t only her, they were also having a child. And yes, he wouldn’t lie, he was terrified, never, not even in his wildest dreams did he imagine being a father someday, but he also knew how wonderful Raquel was, he had seen how she went out of her way to ensure Paula’s happiness and he was sure it would be the same with their child, next to her the road of parenthood would be easier.

For her part, Raquel felt as if a huge stone had risen from her body. That huge and heavy stone of grief and loneliness that hadn't let her breathe since those dark days after the heist had finally vanished, she was breathing again.

"So... we... we are having a baby." Sergio said, a smile dancing on his lips. He couldn’t believe he was saying these words.

"We are having a baby." Raquel repeated, her face reflecting Sergio's.

As if in cue, they both got up from their seats and shared a tight, long and emotional hug. Their smiles almost reached their ears and thin streams of tears ran down their cheeks. And while they both knew they still had a lot to talk about, for the moment this was more than enough.

Unfortunately, their bubble was popped by the sound of Raquel's cell phone. Her mother was calling her. Still with the rush of happiness running through her body, Raquel answered the phone with a huge smile and a perky voice. "Mom!"

 _"Raquel, you finally answer!"_ She sounded frantic and distraught. _"I've been calling you, but it kept sending me to voicemail, you have to come back right now!"_

Raquel's joyful expression changed to a somber one. "Mom, what's going on?! You're scaring me. What's wrong?!”

 _"Alberto came and took Paula!"_ Mariví blurted out…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way this was supposed to be a one shot at first, then 3 at most, now it's a full multichapter 😅
> 
> So Serquel are finally reunited, but... Alberto took Paula!!!! Now what?!


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

"Raquel?" Sergio noticed the turn in her mood immediately. She was appalled, holding onto the table to help herself sit up, grasping the cell phone with one hand and taking the other to her forehead, the tears that a few seconds ago were of joy, they weren’t anymore. "Raquel, what happened?!" He repeated, this time louder to make her react.

She shook her head slightly and looked at him with watery eyes. "I will be there as soon as possible." She said flatly under her breath to Mariví on the other end of the phone.

"Raquel, what's going on?!" Sergio insisted, a little scared, what was that ‘ _I will be there as soon as possible_ ’?

She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts, breathing deeply and quickly, clutching her baby bump in a protective way, her forehead contorted in a frown, her eyes wandering as if assessing what her next move should be.

"Raquel!" Sergio shouted, finally bringing her full attention.

"My-my... Paula... my ex-husband... Paula." Raquel murmured with a slight stutter and a toneless voice.

Sergio dropped to one knee in front of her and taking her face in his hands forced her to look him in the eye. "Raquel, look at me. What's going on?! What happened to Paula?!”

“Alberto, my ex-husband, went to my house and took Paula with him and left a complaint for abandonment. Now my mother is alone and Paula… I’ve to go, Sergio, I have to go or I will never see my daughter again and all this will have been for nothing!” Raquel spoke, her voice filled with terror. Deep down she still dreaded Alberto, maybe even more now, he wouldn’t hesitate to smash her as if she were something insignificant and this was the perfect excuse to do so.

Sergio pulled a chair in front of her and sitting down he took her hands in his, even before taking them he knew she was trembling. "You can't go there."

"She is my daughter, Sergio!" Rachel snapped.

"I know, I know. I’m not saying that you can’t as in doubting your abilities, I know that you are perfectly capable to go and fight for your daughter on your own, but I can’t… _I won’t_ risk something happening to you or to the-the baby,” Sergio stuttered a little, "not even 24 hours ago you were on a plane, it can be dangerous for the both of you, I can't put your safety nor your health in jeopardy." Hesitant, Sergio brought his hand to Raquel's belly, rubbing it lightly with his thumb. She tensed up a little at first, it was a gesture she didn’t expect him to do so out of the blue, but she loved it, feeling the warm of his hand through the thin fabric of her white dress sent electric flows all over her body making her shudder and somehow made her feel safe, she placed her hand on his and both shared an apprehensive yet warm smile.

“We have to put together a plan,” Sergio suggested, “and we have to do it now and we have to do it quickly, but without putting you in danger. Please." He insisted more on a pleading tone.

Sergio was right, she had to think with a cool head what her next move should be, if she did something reckless she could risk everything, she could lose Paula, her mother, she could lose Sergio and she could even lose her unborn baby.

On the other hand, she couldn’t help but feel giddy at Sergio's concern to keep her _and_ the baby safe, on that he was also right, she couldn’t embark on another flight in less than 24 hours, it could be very dangerous. She was very aware that she wasn’t any 20-something, but the label of “ _geriatric pregnancy_ ” in her OB-GYN file at her 40, almost 41 years old, still weighed on her self-esteem.

Raquel sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. _Cold head_. She reminded herself. Fear, motherhood and hormones were bringing out her most impulsive and irrational side, but the idea of never seeing Paula again drove her mad.

She opened her eyes, took her little black backpack with studs and from there she took out a pencil doing her usual and characteristic pick-up-hair ritual, a sign that she meant _business_ , then she looked Sergio straight in the eye. "Okay. I have a complaint for abandonment and a pending custody trial, with our records it’s very likely that they have also issued a search warrant.”

"Probably."

"You know what that means, don't you?"

As if reading her mind, Sergio nodded. "It’s very likely that, by now, they already know that you are here in Palawan."

 _Fuck_ , it was true. They really needed a plan and Raquel knew that if there was someone good to put one together one, that was Sergio. "What do you propose?" She inquired.

"First of all, your phone." Raquel gave him her phone and he, as if it was a bar of clay, folded it in half.

"What’s Next?"

"Your documents, did you bring them with you?"

"Yes. My cards, my passport, my plane ticket, everything.”

"Good, good. Now come with me." He got up from the chair and offered his hand to Raquel.

"Where?" She asked.

"To your hotel. I want to check something, and based on that I’ll decide what will be the next step in the plan.” He replied.

"How do you already have a plan?!" Raquel was surprised. Sergio just gave her a knowing look and a half, naughty smile.

"In less than you think, Paula and your mother will be _with_ _us_." She took his hand and without hesitation followed him. His words were enough to dispel any trace of doubt that might still be in her, but above all, they showered her with a sense of security.

Both walked hand in hand through the streets of Puerto Princesa until they reached the point where Sergio had his vehicle parked. A motor tricycle, the most common way of transportation in the Philippines.

"And that?!" Raquel asked in amusement.

"Well," he helped Raquel climb and then he took driver’s side, "I would’ve wanted, I don't know, an Aston Martin or a Bugatti but we must keep a low profile. Also, this is so compact and comfortable to drive.” Raquel pursed her lips trying to hold a laugh and just shook her head.

It wasn’t necessary to get to the doors of the hotel for Sergio to prove his suspicions, from almost two blocks away the sirens of the patrols could be seen and heard.

"They probably know I'm here for you!" Raquel exclaimed worried as Sergio stopped the tricycle.

"Perfect!" He said with a kind of triumph smile that she couldn’t understand.

"Perfect?! Sergio, they could get to you, too!”

"They won’t." He answered with such reassurance that if it wasn't because of how anxious she was about the police stepping on their hells, he might have infected her. She frowned questioningly. "They won't because tonight you will flight to... give me a city!"

"W-what?"

"Come on, a city!"

"I-I don't know... Singapore." She was _very_ confused, she wanted to keep trusting him, but she almost felt the police breath on her nape and that was sending her over the edge.

Sergio snapped his fingers. "Singapore!" He exclaimed elated. "Good, good! Tonight you are going to Singapore… or well, that is what we are going to make them believe.”

"Sergio, look, I want to trust you, I really do, but I'm not understanding where are you going whit all this."

Without saying another word Sergio started the tricycle again and turned around, driving through the precarious streets of Puerto Princesa until everything became more and more desolate and eventually they came to a narrow dirt road that had no houses and much less people, so they continued for a good 30 or 40 minutes. Both in silence, neither Sergio told her where they were going nor did she dare to ask. As they moved forward, a hut could be glimpsed here and there until they entered what looked like a little village and Sergio parked next to a very wrecked telephone booth.

He got down the tricycle, Raquel behind him. He picked up the phone and dialed a number, she all the time next to him, biting her thumbnail, her paranoia making her scan her surroundings. "Act normal." Sergio whispered to her.

"I need pineapples." It was all Sergio said to the person on the other end of the phone and then hung up. "Let's go." He took her hand, but she jolted away

"What?! What was that?!" Raquel demanded an explanation.

Sergio looked around, adjusting his glasses. "I'll explain everything, but get on the tricycle, please."

Reluctantly, Raquel obeyed and they kept driving on precarious and increasingly lonely roads.

"Well, are you going to explain me once and for all what's going on?!" Raquel insisted, starting to get a bit choleric.

"We are going to see a person who will help us with the plan to bring your mother and Paula here safe and sound."

"And who is that person?!”

"You’ll see. Please,” he took her hand with his free hand, “trust me.” Raquel gave him a squeeze in response and her cholera turned into a desire to whimper. Fuck hormones. After that they both went the rest of their way in silence.

When they arrived and Sergio parked, everything that Raquel could see was green, fruit trees and palms, and the sea, she could hear the sea. She couldn’t help the sparkling smile. Sergio led her down a narrow dirt road that eventually turned to sand, flanked by small bushes, at the end she could see the blue waters of the sea tinted with soft golden touches of the now weak evening sun.

At the end of the road was a small wooden house with dry palm roofs, a kind of bungalow. It had a front porch with two white deckchairs. There was also a hammock hung between two palms, a little boat turned upside down on the sand, and traces of a bunch of burnt wood indicating that Sergio lit bonfires quite frequently.

Raquel was speechless, everything was so simple, so tropical but so, so beautiful. A tiny piece of heaven. "Welcome home." Sergio whispered in her ear, standing behind her. This time she couldn't contain herself and leaned her back against his chest, he couldn't do it either, he wrapped her between his protective arms letting out a sigh of relief for having her so close after so many months of doing nothing but dreaming about her.

She felt so small here, in his arms. And she was really enjoying it, for god she was, it was what she had dreamed of since the last time they saw each other in that hangar in Madrid, and she didn't want to ruin the moment, she really didn't, but she would feel no place like home if her daughter and mother weren't there too.

"I'm so nervous, Sergio, what if something goes wrong?" She sighed shakily.

Serio didn't have time to answer back when they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat. They both turned around and a little man was standing there, he looked local and with him he was carrying a sack of pineapples.

"Sir." The man said with a slight bow of the head.

Sergio adjusted his glasses. "It's time." Then the three went inside the bungalow.

For the next hour or so, the three, or rather Sergio and the mysterious man, who introduced himself as Daniel, discussed what would be the plan to rescue Paula and bring her and Mariví from Spain to Palawan without leaving a trail. Raquel was amazed to realize how many people worked for Sergio.

The plan was, people in Pakistan would hack into the bank and airline database to make the police think that Raquel had bought a plane ticket with her card and gone to Singapore, thereby taking them off their backs. However, there was a part that neither Raque nor Sergio agreed.

"No, no, I don't think that works." Raquel voiced her disagreement. "I don't think my mother will agree to just go with a stranger, much less Paula."

"Yes, I agree with her." Sergio intervened. "It is very risky."

"It's the only way." Daniel assured.

Raquel thought about it. "They probably have my mother's and home phone tapped, if I can't contact her then I can't let her know that it's perfectly safe to trust that people."

"Unless..." Sergio trailed off.

"Unless what." Raquel and Daniel looked at him, their eyebrows knitted in frown.

"Unless I go for them."

"WHAT?!" Raquel yelled, jumping up from her chair.

"No, no, that's very dangerous!" Daniel added.

"It's the only way!" Sergio insisted. "Raquel, your mother knows me and so does Paula, if I go and tell them that I am going to take them to where you are then they will come with me no questions asked!"

Raquel paced the room back and forth with her arms crossed over her chest, biting her lips and looking at the floor, pondering Sergio's proposal, how risky it was, but also how right he was. She felt between a rock and a hard place.

“Think about it, Raquel. A fake passport for me and for your mother and Paula, a quick makeover, we hack the passport and the search and capture database, at least for a couple of hours, just as we go through customs. I arrive, that same day my people get Paula and your mother and that same day the three of us left the country. It’s just a matter of logistics.”

"Well, it could work." Daniel coincided thinking it better. “I know a person who can make passports even better than an authentic one, with the hacking we add them to the database. You could bring the lady and the girl in first class if you wanted and without raising suspicion.”

"So, Raquel, say something." Sergio waited for her response, hopefully a positive one.

"Does it matter if I say no?" Sergio pursed his lips and gave her a sweet look. She sighed heavily, putting her hand to her forehead, feeling an overwhelming headache building. "Ok, let's do that."

"And we would be in touch every day." Sergio assured her. "With burner phones, with keywords."

"Like the pineapples." Daniel added. "I can bring you daily updates too, if you want me to."

"Yes, yes, yes Daniel, that would be great, and if your wife or daughter can come and keep an eye on her I would also appreciate it, I don't want her to be completely alone in her condition." Raquel gave him a kind of amused-loving look causing Sergio to blush sheepishly.

"And when would everything be ready?" Raquel asked.

"Tomorrow night he will be flying to Madrid." Daniel answered and Raquel stifled a sob. This was it, it was all or nothing...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sergio will go back to Madrid to save Paula and bring her and Mariví to Palawan! 😨
> 
> Do you think everything will go well? I still don't decide whether to do the rest of the story all Serquel/baby fluff or give it some heartbreak 👀 i'll ponder it over the weekend 😅


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

_When tomorrow comes_ _I'll be on my own,_

_feeling frightened of the_ _things that I don't know._

_When tomorrow comes, tomorrow_ _comes, tomorrow_ __comes..._ _

* * *

That night, Sergio was sitting on the porch stairs, looking at the darkness of the sea. It was a dark night, but starry, warm and humid, a dim light bulb above front door barely illuminated and the breeze rocked the palms; he wasn’t wearing a shirt and enjoyed a glass of chilled white wine when suddenly, without the adrenaline and euphoria of the events of the last hours running through his body, it hit him like tidal wave making his skin bristle.

He was going to be a father.

Sergio Marquina, the social misfit who never in his life imagined loving someone, having a life as a couple, much less a family, would now be a father.

A tiny human being would come to the world in just a few months and would depend on him for many things, from walking and talking to more complex things, like values.

That freaked him out.

What was it like to be a father? What was he supposed to do? He remembered his father, he literally gave his life for him, at the doors of a bank, riddled for trying to steal money to pay for his medical treatments, would he give his life for that little human? How far would he be able to go to ensure their safety and happiness? For now, preventing their mother to go back to the danger lurking in Madrid, but was that a good start? What else should he do?

He felt dizzy, a mixture of the alcohol and his anxiety. He sighed heavily running his hand through his hair and chugging the rest of his wine.

" _Hey_." He heard the sweet whisper of her voice, and without even turning to see her he smiled, but his smile grew even bigger when he looked at her standing there, barefoot and with wet hair, wearing one of his white t-shirts that looked huge on her and dwarfed her figure, falling almost to her knees and the sleeves past her elbows.

"Sorry for taking your clothes," she smiled, "I left everything at the hotel and I really needed a shower." She sat next to him, moaning in relief, it had been a long day. He returned the smile.

"Raquel... you know this whole Singapore thing was just a little distraction, right? They will know that you never left Palawan very soon."

"I know." It was all Raquel could say back, she knew it, she knew it had only been a little distraction, but she really didn't have the energy to go back there again. They both fell into quiet silence.

"It is a beautiful place, and your house is also very beautiful." She broke the silence.

"It is." He agreed.

"You-you," she cleared her throat, "you live alone, right?"

Sergio frowned taken aback by her question. "Yes, why?"

"No, it's just that I noticed the other bedroom." Raquel replied trying to sound carefree, but the doubt was killing her, this little house didn’t seem to be inhabited by a single person.

"Oh, that." He trailed. “I was planning to come here with someone else after the heist. Not a woman!” He clarified when he noticed Raquel's expression. “It was my half-brother, we were supposed to come live here together, but, well, that didn't happen.”

"May I ask who your half-brother was?" She tentatively questioned him.

"Fonollosa. Andrés de Fonollosa was my half-brother, my brother.” He replied, his gaze lost in the sea in front of him.

Raquel remembered him, of course, his cynical and passive aggressive being was hard to forget, but she also remembered seeing his body being taken out of the Royal Mint in a black plastic bag the day the heist ended, she could only imagine how hard it must have been for him to lose his brother.

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled, placing her hand on his knee, he gave her a half smile.

"Raquel." He spoke her name. "I know that right now there are other and more important things to resolve, but... I think you and I also have something _very_ important to talk about." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index and thumb fingers.

Sergio's quick glance at her bump didn’t go unnoticed. "And what do you want us to talk about?" She asked shyly, embracing her stomach unconsciously.

"About everything." He replied shrugging. "How have you felt, how are you, how is the baby."

Raquel felt a sob building in her throat and that tickle in her nose, but she smiled and exhaled. "The baby is fine, healthy, growing properly, 26 almost 27 weeks and going strong."

"Are you sure?" He insisted, unable to avoid his concern, after all he was a sick child, even before his birth his mother had many complications.

"I'm sure." She assured him. "I've done all the tests to make sure the baby is completely healthy, and it is."

"And you? How are you?"

"Well, I... I'm fine, all things considered, growing and gaining weight by the minute." They both shared a laugh.

"You look stunning." He stated without second thoughts.

She smiled and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “It has been a fairly smooth pregnancy in general, the usual nuisances, especially the first trimester. Nausea and dizziness didn’t give me a second of peace, but then everything got better, unlike with Paula, I felt like hell all the time.”

"And... and what does Paula say? Does she know I am… the father?"

“I don’t know, I didn’t tell her who the father is and she never asked, but she’s very smart, for sure I know at least she suspects you are the father.”

“And what does she say about being a big sister?”

"Oh, she's thrilled!" She exclaimed, beaming broadly, remembering how excited the little girl has been since she gave her the good news. "By the way, she is convinced that it’s a girl."

Sergio chuckled. "Really?! So, you still don't know the sex?”

"No. I… I would like to tell you that I wanted it to be a surprise, but that is not the case.” Her voice quivered. "I didn't want to find out because you haven't been there with me to find out together." Sergio remained silent, but his eyes said everything she needed to know, he was grieving not having been there from the very first moment, too. "But hey, sometimes Paula's enthusiasm infects me and I'm sure it will be a girl, and other times, when I'm having a terrible day and I can't stop throwing up and crying and I crave the most disgusting things I think it will be a boy, only a boy can cause so many nuisances.”

He laughed out loud, throwing his head back, his entire body shaking with laughter. Raquel couldn't help but run her eyes from his lips, to his neck, his bare chest and _further_ _down_. Unconsciously she licked and bit her lips, her heart racing from zero to one hundred and a sensation of cold and hot traveled all over her body to her core. She shuddered.

"Are you cold?!" Sergio frowned.

Raquel's mouth moved without words. "I... I... I am not cold, no," she stuttered, "I am not cold, I..." _I want you to bang me against the wall_ , she thought.

He nodded slowly, still frowning. "Is this something pregnancy related?"

"Yes, yes! Pregnancy, pregnancy brain, changes, many changes, there are times that I'm a total bitch too, you don't want to see that."

"How much of a bitch?"

"Oh, you can't even imagine."

Sergio made a face, not knowing how respond to that. All of this was so new to him, a relationship itself was something very little known, fatherhood and everything to expect when expecting was practically a blank subject for him. "And right now, how do you feel?" He tempted the waters.

"Right now? Extremely exhausted, and if you want to help," she put her legs up onto his lap and giggled, "you can start by giving me a feet massage that I feel they will explode at any moment."

"As you wish." He smiled. Raquel slid back to set her feet on his lap.

His skillful hands squeezing and rubbing right where she needed it most, the muscles in his forearms rippling with every movement of his hands were turning her on. She leaned back, supporting herself up on her elbows, dropping her head back and closing her eyes, enjoying the massage, relaxing with the sound of the sea, getting more and more feverish.

Sergio's fingers went from her toes, to her soles, her heels, ankles and going all the way up to her calves. The higher he went the faster her heart beat. Her arms couldn't hold her up anymore, she laid back onto the wooden floor, taking pleasure in this. It was when he brushed the back of her knees that she let out a shrill giggle, jerking her leg out of his grasp.

"Sorry. Tickles." She laughed so as not to moan and evidence her arousal.

"Hmm," he hummed in a naughty tone, "since when are you so ticklish, inspector?" He mocked.

"Shut up and keep going!" She gave him a light kick in the chest with her heel.

Following her orders, Sergio continued with the task, but instead of going back to her feet, he kept going all the way to her inner thighs, _very_ close to where she needed him most.

"Sergio!" She snapped her legs closed, releasing the moan she'd been holding back until now and trapping his hand between her thighs.

She took a deep breath, thinking about it for a few seconds. Maybe it wasn’t the best time, there were too many things around her, Paula, her mother, it might even seem insensitive that she was having these thoughts, these surges, but she also felt that she deserved it, she deserved a few minutes of selfishness, a few minutes of thinking only about her and no one else, and right now, what she needed most was him, she needed him, his hands, his kisses, him _in_ her. No one knew what could happen tomorrow, the last time she didn’t have a chance to say goodbye, she will not allow that to happen again.

He crawled over to her, trapping her body under him, holding up onto his hands and knees, hovering her body, his face drawing closer to hers, his lips almost brushing hers, the hairs of his beard brushing the soft skin of her forehead, nose, her chin, her lips.

He was about to pull back, but she took his hair between her fingers, stopping him right on the spot with a piercing gaze.

With one hand, he traced the smooth skin of one of her thighs, from her knee all the way up to her hip. "No underwear, inspector?" He teased her when he noticed that underneath the white t-shirt she was wearing absolutely nothing, just her perfect naked body.

“What part of I don't have any clothes you didn't understand? Now shut up and go on!” She gasped, her words beginning to sound hasty.

He positioned himself between her legs and in a swift movement she pushed him lying on his back, climbing over him, leaning forward, flanking his head with her arms, her long brown hair falling over them like a copper waterfall, covering them like a halo.

"Let's go inside." Sergio breathed heavily.

"No, no, no, here!" She said, almost sounding like a plea. She wanted him, and she wanted him now.

Raquel could feel his arousal growing under her and that only turned her on more. She helped him down his pants and off his glasses and he helped her off the t-shirt as they kept clumsily kissing. He buried his fingertips in her hips, bringing her closer, helping her settle into the _exact_ spot.

She shifted a bit until she found the target and when she finally did, she slid him into her, they both let out a loud guttural moan, this felt so good, they both needed it and they both yearned for it so much.

Raquel stood still for a few seconds, simply enjoying the sensation of him inside her, but soon she needed more so she started to grind her hips, first slowly until it wasn’t enough and she speeded up, resting her hands on his chest, making him hiss when she pulled the hairs there, but she couldn’t help it.

Meanwhile, he ran his hands from her hips, to her waist, up the curve of her belly to her swollen breasts. Her body was so different from the last time they were together, but she was so or even sexier than before, she was growing life, she was a walking miracle.

They continued moving at the same pace, the muscles in her thighs starting to sting with the effort of ride him, his chest marked by half-moons made by her fingernails, both were very close. She was noisy and fierce, like blending into her tropical surroundings.

It didn’t take too long for both to come. He growled and she screamed. She dropped on top of his chest heavily, burying her face in his neck, giving him a soft kiss there, he wrapped his arms around her, running her back with the tip of his fingers, their bodies slippery with a thin layer of sweat. He kissed the top of her head and reminded her how much he waited for her. She kissed his chest and reminded him how much she missed him.

They both lay sprawled and satiated on the wooden floor of the porch of the small bungalow, only darkness around them, some bright spots in the sky and the salty wind on their lips, whistling in their ears. And for the first time in months, both felt at peace, the past was erased and there was no tomorrow, only today and now, only they and no one else.

Sergio opened his eyes and snapped them closed at the brightness of the room, then slowly opened them again, adjusting his gaze, he was completely naked in bed, only a white sheet covering him from the waist down, images from the previous night came to his head and he could only smile.

Taking his glasses from the nightstand and putting them on, he turned his head, facing Raquel's bare back, laying on his side he stared at her, bringing his hand and running random patterns with his index finger on her skin, going from one to another of her freckles, like constellations. She stirred a little, moaning softly. He stopped and placed his hand on the deep of her waist, then ran it forward across the curve of her bump until he cradled it. It felt good, his hand there, right where the fruit of his love with Raquel grew. He brushed her smooth skin with his thumb and brought her closer to him, until having her back pressed to his chest. She woke up and joined her hand with his, smirking, still with her eyes closed.

"Good Morning." He whispered against the crook of her neck, his beard itching on her skin and the deepness of his voice making her shrug. She turned around, grimacing, with one eye closed and the other ajar but a radiant face, he propped up on his elbow to have a better look of her. "Did you sleep well?" He asked, tilting his head down to kiss her shoulder.

"Fantastic." She answered. Their eyes fixed on each other’s. "Oh, someone woke up too." Raquel took Sergio's hand and directed it to another spot on her belly, right where the baby was kicking. "You feel it?" She asked, her voice denoting her enthusiasm that he was feeling it for the first time.

Sergio was still for a few seconds, softly burying his fingertips in her skin, feeling _everything_ in the palm of his hand. Little flutters and lumps, it was an indescribable feeling. He pounced on her lips, kissing her passionately and deeply until the air was not enough and they pulled back, without saying a word, they settled back on the bed again, he lay on his back and she on his chest, doing the same he did with her back a few moments ago, running her finger over his chest.

Raquel sighed deeply. "I could be like this with you all day."

He hummed. "I wouldn't complain."

"Is today." She mentioned after a few seconds in silence.

"What?"

"Madrid, is today."

And so the fantasy they had both lived in the past few hours fell apart with just three words. This could be the last day that she would see him, or this could be the beginning of her dream, _their_ dream, who knew...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?  
> We are nearing the end of the story, thanks to each and everyone who has followed it 💜


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Chapter rated M for mature content*

* * *

_** WAIT FOR ME TO COME HOME... ** _

* * *

"Sergio?" Raquel got up on her elbow and looked at his face, his eyes lost on the ceiling. "Sergio, you aren’t getting cold feet, aren’t you?"

"Is not that." He exhaled.

"Then? Because I am here, thinking that you will go and bring my mother and my daughter and— ” Sergio scooted up, leaning against the headboard, Raquel sat up in bed, covering herself with the sheet and sitting cross-legged, facing him. “So?!" She demanded.

"I don't want to leave you alone." Sergio replied, almost on the verge of an anxiety attack. He hated the idea of her being alone, on the run, in a country that was not hers, where she didn't speak the language and specially in her condition.

Raquel sighed and looked at him with eyes full of love. He almost looked like a scared boy. "You don't want to leave me alone, huh?”

“Look, Raquel, I... I don't know how to do this, how to be... how to be a father, but at least I want to try it and inside me I know that the best is to take care of you, to be here for whatever you need, always. I want to be the best.” He blurted out, without breathing between words, finishing with his already characteristic gesture of adjusting his glasses, looking at Raquel with some sheepishness, waiting for her answer.

She smiled tenderly. "Sergio," she reached out to take his hand between hers, stroking his knuckles with her thumb, "it's... it's very sweet what you say, but… there is no such thing as _being the best_ father, there is no manual or a written rule, one only does what one can. Every day is different from the day before, that’s what keeps us in our toes, and one learns on the go and I know, _I am sure_ that you will be the best father in the world, Sergio, but the best _you can_ , not the best other people say you should be. You are an incredible man and you will be an even more incredible father, you will see.”

Sergio felt a little more at ease, although not entirely. He gave a little tap on the bed next to him, Raquel went and sat next to him, he hugged her and she laid her head on his chest, his free hand joining hers on her baby belly. “It's always like this?" He asked.

“Like this, how?”

"Terrifying."

She chuckled. " _Always_. I remember that before Paula was born I was a basket case, I wanted to have everything under control, I wanted to be the perfect mother, I was afraid even of the wind, and my mother used to tell to me to relax, that it was useless to fight with that feeling because it never goes away, that it doesn't matter if your child is 3 or 30 years old, a parent will always be concerned about their children’s well-being.”

He sighed. "What if he or she hates me?"

She chuckled again, Sergio scared of parenthood was the sweetest and funniest thing. "Our child will love you. Unconditionally."

“Still I don't like the idea of leaving you alone, even if it's for a couple of days." He stated firmly.

She lifted her head from his chest, looking at him. "Being here, without being able to do anything causes me more anxiety than you can imagine, you going there to bring my mother and my daughter is what will keep me sane until you all return."

Then they both returned to the peaceful tranquility that each other's presence gave them, it was as if the fact that they only had a few hours together before Sergio had to leave didn't quite fall over their heads yet. It was denial.

The soft caresses, the synchronized movements, the random kisses on her forehead that were matched by kisses on his chest. Denial, all denial.

"You know?" Sergio spoke after a moment. “I've been thinking, when I return from Madrid it would be good if we move to Davao in Mindanao, for a while, at least until the baby is born, unfortunately there are not very good medical services here and I know, I already understood, none of this can be planned, but if we can at least have access to good medical care that would make me feel calmer.”

Raquel murmured half asleep in the tranquility of his arms. "As you wish.”

"Meanwhile, Gloria, Daniel's wife, will keep an eye on you, she will take you to town to buy clothes and will be here for whatever you need, she was a nurse." Raquel again just hummed. "Don't fall asleep again!” He tickled her side making her squirm and giggle.

"I'm tired!" She justified. "Try to carry a human being inside, you would want to sleep all day and all night!”

He laughed silently and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. "There's a house." He said out of nowhere with a dreamy voice. “It's a beautiful, big house, surrounded by so many trees and plants that it is barely visible, it is all made of wood and bamboo and has white curtains as walls. I found it when I first arrived and went to explore de place, I fell in love with it but it was too big just for me.”

"And you want us to move there." Raquel guessed making him laugh.

"Well, this house will be too small for us, the baby, Paula and your mother, don't you think?"

Raquel propped up on her elbow to look at him with a crooked smile. "You really have a plan for everything, don't you?"

"I've had a plan for us since the day I gave you that red envelope with the postcards." Sergio replied in all seriousness. Raquel bit her lips to keep from crying and went back to lay on his chest.

"Can I ask you something?” She queried.

"You know you can."

She took a few seconds. “You... when I saw you in that bar, there were two drinks... did you know I was coming?”

Sergio snorted in contempt at the fact that she had noticed the two drinks, of course she would notice them. "No, I didn’t. Since I came to this place I went _every day_ to that exact point, sometimes I ordered two glasses of wine, other two of champagne and waited, the day would go by waiting for you, and at the end of the day, when I saw that you didn’t come, also a part of my life would go away with the setting sun. I drank both drinks and came back here, alone.” His arms around her became tighter and tighter with each word he said, she was finally here, and he was never going to let her go. No more days spent going to that bar just to return to the solitude of this place, no more pieces of his soul getting lost with each pair of glasses of wine he drank at the end of each day.

"Every day?" Raquel asked in a brittle voice, snuggling closer to Sergio, as much as her bump allowed her.

"Every day." He sighed and kissed her on the forehead. Then, he untangled from Raquel's arms, sliding down on the bed, positioning himself right in front of her bulging belly, supporting himself up on his elbow and placing his other hand on the crest of her stomach. "And it was all worth it." He uttered with so much wonder in his voice and glow in his expression.

"Sergio," she spoke huskily as she ran her fingers through his thick black hair, gently scratching his scalp, "thank you."

"Thanks for what?" He asked without stopping looking at her belly as he ran his hand across the bulge, feeling the soft movements of his child, marveling at them.

“For taking this the way you are doing. After not finding you, another thing that terrified me the most was, if I did find you, what would be your reaction. We never talked about children, I don't know if you had something like this in your plans, so thank you.”

He looked at her, and although his face was radiant, a hint of sorrow loomed in his eyes that she had no trouble understanding after his words, " _many_ of the things that happened during those days _were not_ in my plans." He said with a thoughtful voice and a tight smile.

She swallowed, avoiding his gaze for a moment, remembering his words.

_"It was all planned, Raquel, except what happened between us.”_

"But hey," he said when he saw her expression, he could hear the wheels in her head, "I do regret some things that happened, but not what happened between us, you were the best thing that came out of all that, so please, don't think for a second that I'm not happy about this,” he patted her belly, “Raquel, I wanted to go live far away, take you, your daughter and your mother with me after only a few days of meeting you, what makes you think that having a child of _ours_ didn't cross my mind?”

Raquel sighed shakily looking at the ceiling, Sergio scooted up and hugged her from behind, spooning her, sinking his nose in her hair and giving her a sweet and chaste kiss just behind her ear.

"It was your plan b." She said.

"It was my plan b." He replied with his lips against her warm skin.

Both remained cuddled in bed until it was time to address the inevitable. "I wonder what Pula is doing, if Alberto is already filling her head with bullshit." Raquel muttered.

"Are you afraid that Alberto will do something to her? Hurt her?”

She snorted. “Alberto may be an asshole with everyone, especially me, but I know that he would never hurt Paula. Despite everything, he loves and dotes on her, she is the apple of his eye, but what I fear is that he could manipulate her, turn her against me.”

"Just a few more days, just hold on a few more days." He took her gently by the shoulder, laying her on her back and then kissed her sweetly, ending it with a soft bite on her lower lip. "Then, we will spend our days getting ready for the arrival of the little one."

"It will be a long few days, but we already did it for six months, I think I will be able to resist one more week or so."

Soon after, the couple was interrupted with someone knocking at the door, it was Daniel and his wife, Gloria. Raquel still had some doubts about the couple, more than anything it was her paranoia. Sergio, and now she too, were two of the most wanted people in the world, no one would hesitate to give their heads in exchange for a juicy reward, especially in a country with so many deficiencies.

"Sergio, are you sure they are to be trusted?" She voiced her doubts to him before he opened the door.

"Completely." He assured her, taking both her hands and bringing them to his mouth to kiss them. "Daniel and Gloria have my complete trust, and you can trust them too, ok?" Raquel nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “I don't want you to feel alone in this place, I know that Gloria will like you very much and she will be very helpful when I'm not here; I don't know, we can even hire her so that she works for us once your mother and Paula are here, with them, moving to Mindanao, coming back, the baby… we can use the extra help, don't you think?” 

She shrugged, not because she didn’t like the idea, God knew that with a baby at home she would barely have time to take care of a house, her daughter and her mother, especially since she wasn’t used to household chores. From a very young age she started working and home life was practically unknown to her. When Paula was born, she only spent 2 weeks at home with her baby girl before going back to work full time, she was a working mom, that was what she was used to.

Another thing she wasn't used to was being served, yes, she was used to give orders and being obeyed, but not to having service, it was almost like a parallel world for her.

But she could see that it was Sergio's way of helping, it was his way of saying " _this is your home,_ our _home_." Almost giving her this idyllic life on a silver platter was his way of starting to be a family man, a partner, _a father_. Something already told her that he would be a very doting dad.

Once her doubts were dispelled, the four adults went to work to finalize the last details for both Sergio and Raquel. Even though the idea terrified them, they took time to create a plan in case things didn’t go as planned and for some reason or other, Sergio was discovered and/or captured. Raquel didn’t want to even think about that possibility, but it was a possibility in the end, something that could happen and it was better to be prepared.

Daniel gave Sergio his new passport with a photo of him so perfectly edited that it could be said that it wasn’t just authentic, but that the man in the picture was another man completely, however, the image wasn't entirely of Sergio's liking.

“You've got to be kidding me!" Sergio exclaimed when he saw the photo in the passport, Raquel snatched the document from his hands and her eyes widened when she saw the image.

"NO!" She joined Sergio in his reluctance.

“You told me we had to change your image, make you unrecognizable, that's perfect! Here,” Daniel handed him a little box with contact lenses to replace his characteristic black frame glasses, “the rest, well, I suppose you have a shaving machine and razor blades, right?”

"He is _not_ going to shave his head and beard!" Raquel warned him.

"He has to, tho." Daniel answered matter-of-fact. "There is no time to make a new passport and his face, this face," he gestured with his hands as if framing Sergio's face, "is being sought everywhere."

Raquel and Sergio shared a look of resignation and exhaled heavily. She hated the idea, she loved his hair, it was one of the first features that physically made her fall in love with him, Sergio without his abundant black hair was not him. She felt emotional.

She stared at him as he shaved his head, how each strand fell, leaving some loose hairs on his back and spreading all over the bathroom floor.

"It's just hair, dear," Gloria, Daniel's wife told her, "we know that men have better luck than us at this, in less than you think he will have his hair back."

She smiled at her a little sad, she felt ridiculous for getting so emotional about something as stupid as a haircut, especially considering the reason why he was doing it, but she couldn't help it, she didn't own her feelings and emotions right now, her hormones owned the best of her.

The rest of the day went by like a sigh, when they least expected it, it was time for Sergio to leave. She didn't want to let him go, but she also didn't want to spend more days away from her daughter and mother and because of this act of love, she was willing to wait for him to come home.

Gloria and Daniel gave them privacy to say goodbye, leaving them alone at home, before the latter had to take Sergio to the airport.

"I'll be back sooner than you think, I swear it." Sergio breathed against Raquel's lips, bringing her closer to him, his arms firm around her waist and hers around his neck as she stood on her tiptoes so she could be even closer to his face.

"I'm so scared that something might go wrong." She sobbed, very close from crying.

"I stole the Royal Mint and distributed 6 other thieves around the world without being caught," he said jokingly to make her feel a little better, "bringing your daughter and mother here won't be much of a problem."

"Yes, but you planned this in 24 hours, not 24 years!”

"Do you trust me or not?"

She answered with a hot, deep kiss that even when the shortness of breath was suffocating her, she refused to pull back. She wanted him, wanted something from him before he left.

"Make love to me, now, quickly, I need it. Please." She begged him already panting.

Of course Sergio wouldn’t say no. They kissed and stumbled into the bathroom to have even more privacy, until her butt collided with the sink counter, she lifted herself up with her arms and he took her from behind her legs, helping her up in the counter and positioned between her spread legs, ready for him.

He ran his hands up her thighs inside yet another of his shirts that she was wearing as he kissed her neck and she tilted her head back to give him better access.

“Come on, come on!” She rushed him with difficult breathing, bringing him closer to her with her legs around his hips. Obeying, he took off his pants and boxers, he grabbed her thighs and with no more time to waste, he slid inside her warm and craving core, both releasing a moan of pleasure at the feeling.

Soon he began to move, thrusting against her as she ground her hips as well, her body nearly off the counter with the movement, just her legs around him holding her and her hands gripping the edge of the counter as he buried his fingers in her back and her lips and tongues moved in sync with hot kisses.

Although this was supposed to be fast, he wanted to make it mind-blowing. He stopped almost coming out of her, making her snap in frustration. "What are you doing?!" She gasped, pressing her thighs to his hips.

Not wanting to crush her belly with his large body, he slid her off the counter onto her feet, grabbing her hips and turning her around, facing the mirror. She gripped the sink’s edge, leaning forward a little, this time gently and painfully slow, he re-entered her. The new angle also allowed him a better performance, right on the spot, feeling her entire body shudder under his touch.

He held her hip with one hand, while circling the other arm around her belly, protecting her from hitting the sink with each thrust. She reached one of her arms above his head to bring his lips close to the skin of her neck and linked her other hand to his on her bump, sliding them down and between her legs. Catching the hint of what she wanted, immediately he started building her orgasm more and more with his nimble fingers.

He kissed and sucked the warm skin of her neck, and she tightened her grip on the sink as much as possible, feeling her limbs weaker and weaker with each passing second.

Speeding up the twirl of his fingers, and burying himself deeper into her, it took only a few more seconds until they both climaxed, she moaned into the air and he against her shoulder with a light bite.

Once the dizziness from his release subsided a little, she burst into tears and turned around to hug him tightly, crying against his chest. He cupped her head and stroked her back, trying to calm her down.

“ _Sr. It's time to go!_ ”

They heard Daniel shout from outside. With a last kiss they said goodbye. "Wait for me to come home." He sighed close to her tears-soaked face. 

Taking his small suitcase both left the house holding hands, he climbed on the tricycle along with Daniel and he started the engine.

Gloria stood next to her, "He'll be back soon."

With tears in her eyes, Raquel watched the tricycle that carried Sergio drive away in the dirt road. A blink and more tears rolled down her cheeks still flushed from a few minutes ago. Her baby kicking hard and fast inside her, feeling her sadness.

She stayed there, until the tricycle disappeared before her eyes and even after that.

“C’mon, let's go inside, it will start raining soon. ” Gloria suggested.

Raquel looked up at the sky, black and gray, lightnings illuminating the gradual darkness of the night. She followed them with her eyes, from high in the sky, cracking all the way down to join the sea, followed seconds later by deafening thunders that seemed to shake even the core of the earth. The sea stirred furiously, the waves that only this morning were calm, now violent, crashing on the shore. The wild wind shaking the trees, ripping their leaves and blowing them away.

She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, and a drop fell right in the center of her forehead, followed by another on her nose, on her cheek, on her lips. She licked them off, savoring the rainwater mixed with her salty tears, releasing a trembling sob.

More and more drops were falling, faster one after another, but she didn’t move. Gloria looked at her with a little bit of sorrow. Raquel hugged herself, trying to recreate in her memory the feeling of Sergio's arms around her body. Only a few minutes after he was gone and she already felt that an eternity had passed by, how was she going to survive a week?

She opened her eyes and completely soaked and silently made her way inside the house. Gloria followed behind, offering to prepare a bath for her that she refused, taking only the bag with some clothes that she had brought her, taking off Sergio's shirt, which even soaked smelled like _him_.

That night she didn't sleep at all, tossing and turning in bed, looking to one side, looking to the other, staring to the ceiling, sitting up in bed, standing in front of the window looking at the rainy sea, going back to bed just to keep tossing and turning .

For greater security, they had agreed that it was better to discard the burner phones, they wouldn’t take any chances, so any news would be communicated in a kind of chain. Sergio would send it to his trusted person in Spain, a man he called “ _Marsella_ ”, then he would send the information to another person in Pakistan and this one would send it to Daniel, who would give it to Raquel.

Approximately 7 hours had passed since Sergio's flight to Manila had took off and then to Budapest, following the same route as she did to Madrid. And 7 hours later she still didn’t have any news, which she interpreted as a good sign, if Sergio had been caught, Daniel would already know, they had sent people to all the airports he would go through to report any situation. But he still had many hours to finally be safe in Spanish lands.

When she could no longer stay in bed, she went out to the porch to sit on the stairs and watch the sunrise, it was a breathtaking sight, the sky transformed from black, to dark blue, light blue mixing with white, yellow and orange.

The rest of the day she didn't do much, overwhelming anxiety holding her back. Gloria suggested go to town to buy more clothes and everything she needed, but she couldn't, she couldn't put her head on anything other than Sergio, her mind was invaded by him, if everything would turn out well, if he was going to reach her mother and Paula without problems.

Returning home after taking a long walk along the shore, she saw Daniel standing there, she quickened her pace, almost running.

"Daniel, what happened?! Please tell me that everything went well!” She almost took him by the shirt to shake him and make him talk.

The man sighed. "I have a couple of good news, but there is one bad, too…"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, if you read all the way down to this part, THANKS!!!
> 
> Thoughts about the chapter?!
> 
> What do you think are the news?!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd like to invite you all to read my other fic "En ésta no", I will most likely continue it once i'm over with this fic 😊
> 
> Also, thanks for all the positive feedback, i love to know you like this 💜

> * * *
> 
> _When I’m away, I will remember how you kissed me,_
> 
> _under the lamppost back on sixth street,_
> 
> _hearing you whisper through the phone,_
> 
> _wait for me to come home…_

* * *

“Are you going to speak, goddamnit?! Just tell me what is happening for god’s sake!” Raquel snapped angrily.

Daniel cleared his throat, frowning and grimacing, he knew what he was about to say wasn’t going to like her. "Firstly, Mr. Marquina managed to get to Madrid without any problem," she breathed in relief and smiled, however that wouldn’t last long, "the real problem arose when he was already there."

"What?! What was it?!”

"The plan fell apart." And along with that Raquel’s blood to her feet. "Or rather, we will have to postpone it indefinitely. As we knew, you daughter is with your ex-husband, but your mother… she is in the hospital.”

"What?!" She cried and demanded answers. "How is she?! What's wrong with her?! Is it bad?!”

"At the moment we only know that she is stable and out of danger, it was a hip fracture. Is all we know so far, most likely she’ll undergo surgery.”

Raquel felt all the air left her body. She walked slowly to the porch and sat on the stairs, resting her head on her hands, trying to breathe deeply, but the situation was bigger than her.

"And now that?" She asked almost in a whisper without looking at his face. She couldn’t believe her luck, it was as if fate insisted on everything to go wrong, when she had finally found Sergio, when they had planned hundreds of things for their future and bring her daughter and mother, when he, despite all the predictions, had managed to skip all the security fences and arrived in Madrid. Now, what kind of damn joke was this?

She even came to think it was some kind of karma, for being a bad mother? A bad daughter? For being selfish and thinking only of her and her wants and needs and not her daughter and her fragile mother first?

"As I said, at the moment it’s all we know, Mr. Marquina has only been there a few hours, but as soon as he sends me more information be sure that you’ll be the first to know. The safest thing now is to put the plan on hold, right now they cannot make any movement, if they take your daughter now then they will know he’s there and it’ll be practically impossible to reach your mother without being caught.”

"And how long will this take?" She looked up at him and it was when a single tear slid down one of her cheeks, she immediately wiped it away, she hated when unknown people saw her cry.

"At the moment we don't know exactly, Marsella and Mr. Marquina are assessing the situation, but... it’s a hip fracture, it can take weeks, even months before your mother can travel without problems." Daniel answered solemnly.

Raquel remained silent. Shaky breathing, darting eyes, sweaty hands, racing thoughts but blank at the same time.

She was in utter disbelief, her daughter with that bastard of Alberto, her mother in the hospital, Sergio there and who knows how long it would take for them to return, what if he didn’t come back in time for baby’s birth?

Again, asking herself that question made her feel a little guilty; for god’s sake, her mother was in the hospital and the whole plan was hanging by a thread! But the idea of giving birth, alone, terrified her more than anything in the world. Going through all that exhausting process without her mother and without Sergio by her side made her want to cry her heart out.

She wasn’t religious, but this time, she _begged_ God for everything to go well, for her mother’s soon recovery, for them to manage to take her daughter from Alberto’s damned hands and for them all to make it back in time to welcome the baby and finally, _finally_ be happy in this piece of paradise that until now she only saw as a prison.

* * *

Sergio looked out the window at the streets of Madrid at night, a red light flickering on his face, the sign of the cheap motel he and Marsella were staying at. With all the money in the world and he had to hide in this filthy hole, all to avoid being caught.

"You've been there all day, we have to start planning something." Marsella said to Sergio looking at him sitting on the other side of the room, nursing a glass of whiskey in his hands.

"I can't think now, Marsella." He replied downhearted. "I need to sleep, process all this."

"Then do it, tomorrow we will think how to rescue the girl and the old woman."

"Paula and Mariví." Sergio cleared.

"What?"

"Their names are Paula and Mariví, not ‘the girl and the old woman’."

Marsella looked at him with a gesture of confusion and amazement, he had known Andrés's brother very briefly, but enough to know how little he made ties with people, and now here he was, he had come out of hiding on that island paradise in the Philippines to rescue the mother and daughter of the woman he loved while said woman waited for him and not only that, she also was pregnant with his child. He could only imagine Andres's reaction to all this, his little brother was a completely different man, a family man one could say.

"Ok..." Marsella trailed off, "Paula and Mariví."

"Marsella," Sergio looked at him, "thanks for what you are doing for me."

"I couldn't deny Andres's brother a favor. Besides, it's for a good cause, his brother would be very happy to see what your life has become."

"You know?" Sergio spoke, turning his gaze back to the street. "Before his wedding, when we were planning one of the heists, I... I spat in his face that we couldn’t risk anything for a woman, that the plan couldn’t be intoxicated by a woman," he chuckled humorlessly, "and look at me now.”

"He would be twisting with laughter." Marsella laughed, “And even more when he knew his new sister in law was nothing more and nothing less than the inspector in charge of the heist. He would never give you a break.” Andrés really could be a pain in the ass with his passive-aggressive sense of humor.

"But he would be happy, happy for me." Sergio took a deep breath at the memory of his brother, trying to keep himself from crying. "He wanted me to enjoy life," he huffed. "Do you have children, Marsella?" He questioned him, turning to look at him.

"No, I don’t."

"Don't have them. _Never_. Or you will never have peaceful mind again. It's ridiculous, I found out I’m going to be a father a couple of days ago and I've been on the edge ever since!”

"You say that now because of the situation." Marsella answered. "But I want you to tell me the same thing when you have that little lump in your arms, when that tiny mouth smiles at you and says ' _Daddy, I love you_ ,' you just wait."

"For someone who has no children, you speak with a lot of confidence about parenthood."

“It's not confidence, it’s common sense. You are doing all this to save the mother and daughter of the woman you love, the mother of your child… you will love that baby to no end.” Sergio smiled in agreement and blushed. “What you can't do again is shave your head and beard. That will scare that poor child!”

"Does it look that bad?" Sergio laughed, running his hand over his smooth scalp. Marsella nodded with a grimace. "Raquel hated it too... I wonder if Daniel has already told her what happened to her mother, I hope it wasn't too much of a shock for her."

"We will look for a way to communicate with her safely, but now," Marsella stood up from his seat and took his suitcase, putting it on the bed, from there he took out a smaller bag and from there a bottle of pills, taking one and handing it to Sergio, "take this, it will help you sleep, you need to be rested to think."

Sergio doubted it for a moment, but Marsella was right, if he wanted to be 100 percent with his head in the game, he had to be rested. He took the pill and while it made effect, he took the opportunity to take a quick shower. A couple of hours later he was fast asleep.

The next morning, when Sergio woke up, he found not only that it was past noon, but also he was alone in the room, Marsella wasn’t in his bed and it was made. He wasn’t in the bathroom either but his belongings were still there. Sergio panicked for a moment, he didn’t tell him he would leave and he had no way to communicate with him.

Sergio was at lost, he didn’t know whether to wait for him to return or go out to look for him, but where to? If only he had left a note, or something letting him know where he was.

An hour, two, three. Sergio was losing patience, he felt like a caged animal, pacing the small room, not knowing what to do. It wasn't until he heard the lock that he could breathe again.

"Where the hell were you?" Sergio complained angrily to Marsella.

"We got it, I know what we will do!” Marsella replied, completely ignoring Sergio's humor, "Now we just have to figure out _how_ to do it."

"I hope you mean a plan?"

"And if not what?" Marseille frowned. “I went meet my people, they updated me on the girl, Paula, and her grandmother. The girl is alone, completely alone, a neighbor drops her and picks her up from school and she spends all day alone at home.”

"What?! Are you sure?! That bastard!”

"And her grandmother, she will have surgery today, but that's not all..."

"Please tell me she is fine." Sergio almost begged him.

"She is, she is stable. But once she is discharged, she will be sent to a nursing home, her other daughter has already done the paperwork so she’ll continue her recovery there.”

Sergio couldn't say much more than just raise his eyebrows in amazement, when Raquel finds out about this she will be furious. He remembered what he had read in one of Marivi’s post-its when he went to her house, yes, to kill her. Now that memory made him shudder. But that day he read in a note that she " _would never be sent to a nursing home._ " Clearly, Alberto and Raquel’s sister had other plans. Keep Paula and get rid of Mariví.

"Don't you see it?!" Marseille encouraged, “This is the perfect opportunity to get both back. The girl spends all day alone, and the grandmother will be sent to a nursing home as soon as she’s discharged from the hospital. We can get them both back the same day, while our men intercept the ambulance someone takes the girl.”

Sergio contemplated it for a few seconds, it was a risky plan. "Are you sure Paula spends all day alone?"

"Totally."

“We would have to have perfect logistics and synchrony to take both at the same time and be taken to…” Sergio trailed off, “where would we take them? I'm not going to bring Paula and my mother-in-law—” he stopped when he realized what he had said, cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, "I'm not going to bring Paula and Mariví to this shit hole!”

“We can rent a house, we must, in fact, the lady will need medical attention for at least a month or two. We'll take care of that, too, I know an excellent trauma surgeon who could help us.”

"One or two months." Sergio sighed heavily, bringing his hands to his head and looking up at the ceiling. One or two months, he couldn’t and didn’t want to leave Raquel alone for so long, the idea that she could go into labor while he wasn’t there drove him crazy. She was 6 months along, _almost_ reaching 7... one or two months would be the difference between being there to welcome his child or not. "Would it be possible to travel as soon as we have them both?"

"I don't know, the doctor would have to tell us that, once she is with us."

“Dammit!" He muttered under his breath. “I don't know Marsella, what if something goes wrong? What if they catch us? We can't be here for long and I need to communicate with Raquel, to know how she and the baby are. I, I…”

"Well, you are already here, and you promised her that you would return with her mother and daughter, you cannot fail now.”

"I know, I know!”

"Everything would have been easier if you had sent someone to watch over her from the beginning."

"Do you think I didn't?" Sergio answered, a little defensive. "I did it the first months, two or three months, and it was always the same... I couldn't bear it, she here while I was thousands of miles away, and everything the same... and something told me to continue, to continue taking care of her, I should’ve never left her alone... even in the distance. I gave up and you have no idea how much I regret it.”

Marsella was a little speechless, little by little Sergio was opening up more to him and behind that image of a cold man that he had of him there was a sensitive man and now extremely in love. “Well, you were playing it safe, sometimes you have to protect yourself in order to protect others. But now you're not playing it safe,” Marseille chuckled, “all this craziness is anything but playing safe.”

“I'm ready for everything, Marsella, I am serious, tell me more about the plan.” Sergio asked, ready to start the plan.

“First of all, I have more news for you, you can talk to Raquel tomorrow at noon. Surely she has been notified or will be soon.”

"Really?!" Sergio exclaimed with a huge smile and Marsella nodded.

"But the plan is this..."

* * *

Since Daniel let her know that she was goin to be able to talk to Sergio, Raquel was between anxiety and excitement, all that night she couldn’t sleep, thinking about what she would say since it would be a short call and probably, unfortunately, the last. Alarms would go up across the country as soon as Paula and her mother were taken and calls were too risky. She had to cherish every one of those seconds she would be able to speak to him.

Now Raquel was on her way to the villa to take the call from that filthy phone booth that Sergio had called Daniel on the day they started with the rescue plan.

She didn't say a single word the whole way there, and even though it was hot and little drops of sweat ran behind her ears and down her spine, she couldn’t stop shivering with little spasms of anxiety.

When they finally got to the bot, she jumped out of the cart anxiously waiting for the phone to ring.

"It shouldn't take long, they still have to connect the call."

"Where are they calling from?"

"From what I know from a burner phone, but they’re in movement, you know, repeaters."

Raquel nodded, putting her hands together and bringing them to her mouth, almost as a sign of prayer, a sign of imploring, praying that everything would go well and that Sergio has good news for her.

The phone rang and she let out gasp, Daniel answered, saying a few words in Filipino and after a few seconds he handed the phone to Raquel.

“Is him." He smiled warmly.

"Sergio!" Rachel cried. "How are you?! How’s my mother?! How’s Paula?! How's the plan going?! What's the plan?!” She shot question after question without taking a breath.

Sergio couldn't help but chuckle.

_“I'm fine, I'm fine, perfectly fine. So is your mother, she’s fine, she had surgery yesterday and as far as we could know the surgery was a success, the same Paula, she’s fine._ ”

He decided not to tell her about the situation with Paula and that she spends practically all day alone, a neighbor paying her visits once or twice a day, he didn’t want to stress her more than she surely was already.

She sighed in relief, but then remembered that that wasn’t the biggest challenge they had, they had two obstacles ahead, rescuing them and bringing them back. "And... when will it all happen? You know…”

_"We still don’t know when your mom will be discharged, but we already have an outlined plan, we also have a house where we will take care of her until she is ready to travel and a nurse and doctor, we’ll also take care of Paula, they will be fine. I promise… I_ swear. _”_

"I know." She muttered.

_"I swear I'll be back on time."_

"Sergio, don’t rush, now the most important thing now is to bring my mother and Paula back, I know this will take time, but I will be fine, _we_ will be fine."

Sergio felt a bit of frustration, he really wanted to be there with her, especially when the baby was born.

_"I know you will be... But tell me, how are you? How are you two? Are you liking Palawan?”_

He asked to change the subject a little, he had very little time and he wanted to know how she was adapting.

She sighed with a smile. “We are fine, I’m growing by the day, that’s good, I suppose. And Palawan is... it's nice, a little hot but it's nice. I don't have much to do except take walks along the shore, read, sleep, I don't do much. ”

_“That's the point, for you to rest. But I'm glad you're okay, that you're both okay.”_

Raquel smiled, "How's your hair going?"

_"Growing, too; I'll have my hair back by the time I'm there.”_

"I hope so!”

_"I missed speaking to you, hearing your voice through the phone."_

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm wearing?" Raquel asked suggestively.

Sergio laughed out loud.

_"Inspector, what are you wearing?"_

He asked in his best professor voice.

"Well... a sleeveless white tunic dress, brown sandals and a straw hat."

_"Hmmm... a very beachy look, I see that you’re adapting to the place, Inspector."_

The call started to have some interference and a constant beep could be heard, immediately Daniel made the signal to Raquel to cut the call with his fingers and apparently on the other side, Marsella also made the same signal to Sergio.

_"Raquel, I have to hang up!"_

"Wait, this is our last call, right?"

_"Probably, probably it is. I’ll try to find a way to call you again, so you can talk to Paula and your mother, I’ve to go. Wait for me!”_

"Sergio, wait!" Raquel yelled, but Sergio was gone, "I love you." She murmured, more to herself. 

With great sadness she hang up the phone and climbed to the cart for Daniel to take her back home. But although sadness was the most prevalent feeling in her at the moment, she also understood that she had to be strong and wait for Sergio, for her mother and for her daughter, to trust him, and from these possible last words that she had heard from him and also from her child, gather the strength to wait, wait for them to come back home.

* * *

Sergio remained silent after hanging up the call with Raquel with the phone clenched against his chest. There were so many things that he would’ve wanted to ask and he didn’t, and many others that he would’ve wanted to say and he didn’t, and the feeling that he was most certainly not going to speak to Raquel again until, hopefully, he was there with her was excruciating.

There was also the fact that the odds of the baby being born while he was in Madrid were crushing his heart, he was just getting used to de idea of fatherhood, he wasn't going to be ready to get to Palawan and probably already have a little human there, he wanted to be prepared. But he also thought, who knows and maybe Paula would help him to understand fatherhood, after all he would technically become her stepfather, that also made him shudder, he was going to have to take care of the little girl for as long as they were in Madrid.

Although useless for fatherhood, it didn't take much intelligence to know that dealing with a newborn wasn’t the same as dealing with a kid, a kid who had her own temperament and her own habits of which he knew _nothing._ It was a little awkward that time they met, the little girl was quite straightforward when she asked if he and her mother were dating and she seemed to accept his answer, but they were different circumstances. Now she wouldn’t have her mother and would be in charge of a man she practically didn’t know.

"What are you doing, Sergio?" He questioned himself.

"Sergio," Marsella pulled him out of his anxious thoughts, "the house is ready, we can move in whenever you want."

"Perfect."

“And also the surgeon just sent me a text, she’s more than happy to help us with the lady. We have it all."

"We are only missing the most important." Sergio replied with some discouragement.

"Are we pessimistic now? I thought the call would cheer you up.”

“It di, it did! But it's hard to think it may be the last call."

“I know,” Marseille patted him lightly on the back, “but we will find a way, especially for the girl, she will want and need to talk to her mother. Now let's go, we have to have that rescue plan perfectly ready for the big day.”

"Yes, there are a few things I would like to change."

"Like?"

"I still think it's kidnapping."

"Well... the plan doesn't matter because technically what we would do would be kidnapping, no matter how you put it and this is the quickest and easiest way, yes, maybe Paula and her grandmother will be scared for a few minutes, but they will calm down when they know what’s going on."

"I think I should go to get Paula while you take Mariví."

“You _will not_ go anywhere near that house. It’s an order, you could bring down the entire plan.”

Sergio hated not being in charge of the situation and that many of the things were not in his hands, the chess player inside him hated not being in control.

In the following days, from dawn to dusk, Sergio, Marcella and their entire team spent their time studying and reviewing the rescue plan down to the smallest detail.

Luckily, the nursing home where they would send Mariví was very close to Alberto's house, where Paula was, and not only that, she would be taken just at the same time when the girl would be come home from school. Those aspects fit together perfectly.

The plan was to kidnap the ambulance that would take Mariví to the nursing home and take Paula in the same ambulance. It sounded like a simple plan, even something taken from a telenovela, but it was more than that, everyone had to be and act in perfect synchrony along with the hackers who would be erasing all traces of their way through the streets in the security cameras. They had to be extremely precise, there was no room for mistakes.

Then, both would be taken to the house that Marsella had rented where Sergio would be waiting for them. A house in a wealthy neighborhood on the outskirts of Madrid, the kind of neighborhood where people had their heads so up in their own asses that they didn’t care who their neighbors were, it was the perfect place.

The big day had come and Sergio wasn’t allowed to do anything but wait, " _personal feelings can ruin the plan_ ," Marsella said before leaving home and _literally_ leaving him locked up so there he was, waiting, his anxiety levels to such a high level they made him vomit more than once, he was shaking, sweating, and nauseous.

He hadn’t sent anyone to notify Raquel that the operation would be that day, he _was_ so sure of the plan that he preferred to wait for Paula and Mariví to be home so that he could send her the good news.

But the monster of anxiety was making him doubt even his own existence, he was fearful, paranoid and pessimistic. A voice inside him told him that the whole plan would go down the drain, that something would go wrong. He kept looking at the clock, tapping it constantly with his finger, thinking that it had stopped because that damn thing wasn’t moving, it seemed that time had stopped.

On more than one occasion, he wondered why he was acting like this? Even when they were at the peak of the heist to the Royal Mint he wasn’t _that_ nervous, so why now? Because it was about Raquel? Because... because it was about family?

These and more questions went through his head as he waited until the moment when the front gates of the house slowly opened, he held his breath. He ran to the window and seconds later the ambulance was there, his heart racing immediately, as well as his breathing. The vehicle was turned off, two people jumped out the pilot and co-pilot doors while the back doors opened too and there was Paula, the little girl jumped out but she didn’t seem scared _at all_ , on the contrary, the girl was beaming. 

Behind her two people lowered Mariví's stretcher, behind her the nurse who would take care of her and the trauma surgeon who would be in charge of her recovery in the following weeks.

Sergio let out the air that he hadn't realized he was holding and made a little victory dance, jumping and shaking his arms in the air. He ran to the main entrance until he tried to open the door and he couldn't, remembering that he was locked up.

Seconds later, Marsella opened the door coming in followed by a group of people with Mariví’s stretcher who was half-asleep and was immediately taken to what would be her room, after her, Paula, who although she was still smiling looked at her surroundings with curiosity , until her eyes and Sergio's met.

“Hi!” Paula said with a smile, hugging a notebook that she pressed against her chest. "What happened to your hair?!” She wrinkled her nose.

Like mother, like daughter, Sergio thought. "I..." He trailed off, how could he explain that he had to change his look because he traveled there with a fake passport at the same time that hackers broke into the customs system so as not to be detected all in order to get her and her grandmother and take them to Palawan where her mother was waiting for them?

"You look better with long hair!” The little girl walked past Sergio directly to the large window overlooking the garden. "Wow, the garden is so big and there is a play area!" Paula exclaimed smiling broadly.

"You like it?" Sergio inquired, "I asked for the playground exclusively for you, you know we will be here for a while, don’t you?” The little girl shook her head.

"Where is my mom? Is she here? Is she upstairs? And my sister?"

Sergio went down in one knee in front of the girl to have a better view of her and so that the communication wasn’t so intimidating and a little more direct. “Look, Paula, your mom is not here, but I know where she is and I will take you and your grandmother to where she is, waiting for you, for us."

"And where is she waiting for?" Paula asked with a hint of disappointment in her little voice.

"Well," he adjusted his glasses, “now she’s on an island, called Palawan, in a house next to a very beautiful beach, you will like it."

"Will we all live together? You, mom, grandma, my sister and I?”

"Would you like us to all live together?

Paula thought about it for a moment and then nodded energetically, "Are you my sister's father?"

The question took Sergio by surprise, he supposed that Raquel had told her something, "yes, I... I am the father of your... how do you know that it’s a sister and not a brother?" Paula shrugged showing a pursed smile. Sergio shook his head with an amused smile. He already knew that Paula would be a handful.

"Can we go see grandma? I missed her.” Paula asked a little shy.

"Of course! Do you want to see the rest of the house, too? And your room”

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

"Then let's go."

"Hey, how long we’re going to be here?"

"Once your grandma is better we will leave, ok?"

"Will you take care of me?"

"Yes, I will.”

"Are you going to yell at me?”

Sergio stared at Paula, genuinely concerned with where that question came from, although it wasn’t difficult to imagine. But the idea that Alberto also abused the little girl to made his blood boil. 

"No, I will _never_ yell at you, do you understand me? _Never_. Now let's go see grandma and then I'll show you the rest of the house.”

Paula ran ahead and Sergio followed close behind. Their first meeting had turned out much better than he had anticipated, which filled him with confidence, although little did he know that not everything would be that simple.

To begin with, as predicted, the alarms were raised not only in Madrid, but throughout Spain and neighboring countries. Entrances and exits to cities were highly controlled and guarded, ports and airports the same. The news that the professor had attacked again, this time taking Inspector Murillo's mother and daughter, spread like wildfire across the country in a matter of hours, cataloging it as kidnapping. However, the operation had been so successful that on that part Sergio had nothing to worry about, they had erased all traces in the security cameras, so it was next to impossible for them to be found. Now his priority was for Mariví to recover and take care of Paula.

As the days went by, Paula asked more and more about Raquel, it was no longer enough for her that her grandmother was there, or that Sergio was there, not even the playground cheered her up, nor the dozens of things that Sergio had ordered to bring so she could play. She _needed_ and _wanted_ her mother.

They had a quick phone call with her but it was counterproductive, the girl wanted more and more. She started throwing tantrums and refusing to eat. Sergio didn’t know how to handle it, after all, he was suffering Raquel’s absence, too.

He was suffering for her too, it was unbearable to be away from her, and although receiving news of her every now and then kept him going, he couldn’t wait to finally be back to her, finally begin to live what they had planned that chilly morning in the warmth of her bed. Live and raise _their_ children on a sunny beach. But for now, he had to figure out how to get to Paula.

It broke his heart to see her cry, he didn’t know how to proceed, what to say. He didn't know whether to pat her on the back, talk to her or give her a hug, neither did he want to invade her personal space or touch her without her consent. He wanted everything to be her way. Still it hurt to see her cry for her mom.

The weeks kept going by and everything remained the same, even Mariví tried to help as much as she could in the midst of her recovery, but it was useless. When he realized almost a month and a half had went by and this still had a few weeks ahead, Mariví went down with an infection. Sergio felt between a rock and a hard place.

One night while he was in bed ready to sleep he heard noises downstairs. His internal alarms went off immediately, he cautiously went down to where the noises were coming from only to find little Paula crying on the living room sofa, curled up in a ball, hugging the stray kitten who had came home a few days ago and who she refused to let go so he allowed her to keep it to avoid more tantrums, thinking it might cheer her up.

He sat next to her, and saw her cry. She asked over and over again for her mother, and he repeated over and over again that they would soon be with her. Still, Sergio didn’t make any movement, it wasn’t until Paula left the kitten go and threw herself into his arms that he, although initially doubtful, ended up wrapping around her, letting her vent until she fell asleep in his arms and he took her to her room, when he wanted to leave her over the mattress, she held him tighter, forcing him to sleep with her, the kitten at their feet.

Who would have thought it was all the girl needed, a little bit of warmth, a little _love_. But again, it was all about her and at her pace . From there, everything went uphill. He even started teaching her to play chess and of course, the ancient art of origami. 

Both bonding more and more every day, until the day to return to Palawan had _finally_ arrived; _finally_ Mariví would be back with her daughter, _finally_ Paula would be back with her mother, and he, _finally_ would be back with his love and with his child, ready to welcome her… or him…

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are back to Palawan!  
> Will they arrive in time for the baby's birth?  
> What has Raquel been doing all this time? But more importantly, what do you think the baby is? Boy or girl?
> 
> I really, really hope to have the next chapter ready soon


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long chapter, I hope you don't mind. Thank you to the people who reviewed the previous chapter, i'm glad you liked it!
> 
> If you like it lemme know what you think, and if you don't lemme know what i can improve 💜
> 
> Are we having a Serquel baby? Read to find out!

* * *

It was a peaceful morning in Palawan, not too hot, it was a little cloudy and the wind was nice. Raquel and Gloria took a walk along the seashore, as they practically did every day to distract themselves from the routine and also so that Raquel exercised a little and to help her with delivery, as Gloria always told her when she refused to go for a walk and wanted to stay in bed instead.

It was a path that Raquel already knew perfectly, the huge palm with the crooked trunk where se loved to sit and watch the sunset, the orange tree that even meters before its flowers already intoxicated the air with its citric smell, the bushes with colorful flowers, the small swirl made with the waves in that narrow ditch in the sand. Everything was already so familiar to her that she couldn't remember life before this.

"You've been very quiet today." Gloria pointed out.

"I'm just tired, that's all." Raquel replied, looking towards the ocean.

“You've been like this since that call to your family. If there's anything I can do, you know you can count on me.”

Raquel looked at her with a smile. In the past weeks, since Sergio left, they had both grown close, Gloria came every day in the morning to ask if she needed anything from the village, to help her with the housework or simply to have a glass of refreshing Calamasi or Sago't Gulaman sitting on the porch or under an umbrella, sitting on a blanket on the sand, chatting, getting to know each other better.

"It's Sergio, I'm concerned about him."

"What worries you about him?"

"That he won’t adapt to parenthood? He is a very… a very peculiar man, he has always been a lone wolf and he is obsessed with order and plans, I don't think he is ready for fatherhood.”

Gloria chuckled. “You sound like a new mom. No man is prepared for fatherhood! As the saying goes, a woman becomes a mother when she finds out she’s pregnant and a man until he sees his child.”

"Believe it or not, my ex-husband was a charm preparing for fatherhood, he was a charm until—" Raquel cut half a sentence, she still didn't say anything to Gloria about her abusive past with her ex-husband, she didn't know if she was ready. It would never be easy to talk about it. Those years of humiliation and abuse were not so easily erased. “— until he wasn’t anymore."

Gloria noted that there was something she wanted to say but she didn’t, she din’t insist either. “Eventually he’ll get used to the idea, you’ll see. That man clearly loves you!”

"I'm not going to lie, the idea keeps me awake at night."

"Know what you need? Distraction, you're stuck in that house all day doing nothing, what about the new house? Mr. Marquina already bought it, it’s already your house, why don't you get it ready for their return? I can help you if you want.”

Raquel thought about it, "You're right," she mumbled, thinking about it. "You know what? You're right! Enough of moping around, I will get the house ready to welcome my mother, my daughter and Sergio."

"I love that voice!"

“And sorry for before, I'm not this whiny and needy woman, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"No worries, I understand, pregnancy is always difficult, and you are going through difficult circumstances, it’s normal that you feel that way.”

Raquel smiled, "but now, I want to have everything ready to welcome them back."

"And that baby, too,” she nodded toward her baby bump, "which is sooner to be born than you think."

Raquel hummed with a tight smile, “I’m not ready to give birth the old way, but I think don’t have a choice now. Sergio wanted me to give birth in Mindanao or Manila, in a hospital.”

"Don't worry, women have given birth that way forever, and I’ll be there too, and false modesty aside, even though I no longer practice I’m still very good at my job as a nurse."

"I hope so, because just thinking about the pain makes me shiver."

"Have you thought of a name?"

“I have some in mind, but they don’t convince me entirely, maybe until I see their little face I will know, the same thing happened with my daughter. Also, I want to ask Sergio what he thinks.” Raquel smiled and ran her hand up and down her belly.

"Boy or girl’s names?"

“Both, although I don't know, my daughter is _sure_ that it’ll be a girl, but I feel that it’ll be a boy. I've thought of naming him Andrés, like Sergio's brother.”

"Of course, Mr. Fonollosa!" Gloria exclaimed.

Raquel was surprised to discover that she knew him. "Did you know him?!"

"Of course, thanks to him we met Mr. Marquina."

"Wow! They really know more people than I imagined.”

“Honey, for the magnitud of the Royal Mint’s heist, you didn't think it was organized with only 8 people, don’t you? _Many_ people were behind it, all over the world, including me and my husband.”

“Wow!"

"But back to the house, tomorrow, why don't we go to the villa to look for furniture?"

"I love the idea!”

"We don't have fancy furniture stores here, but I know a place where they sell very nice things and —" Gloria stopped mid sentence when she noticed that Raquel had stayed a few steps behind, turning towards her she found her bent forward, supporting with one hand on her thigh and the other on the side of her belly with a pained expression on her face, she rushed to her side immediately.

"Raquel! What happens?!"

Her eyes were closed tightly and she breathed deeply through her nose, letting the air out through her mouth. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She answered in a calm voice.

"Fine? But you are clearly in pain!”

"It's nothing," Raquel insisted, "it's just — _JODER!_ ” She yelled.

"Come here," Gloria put her arm around her shoulders and led her to a big rock, helping her to sit down, "what are you feeling? What hurts you?”

Raquel was losing control over her pain, breathing rapidly. “It's, it was, it was like a stab." She breathed.

"Could it have been a contraction? Braxton Hicks."

"I, I think so... but it's too soon!"

"Well, it's not that soon, you're 32 weeks along.”

_32 weeks_ , in what moment?! Raquel thought, she felt the days go by painfully slow, but certainly time was flying by, she was _very_ close to the final stretch of this pregnancy, 5 more weeks and the baby could be born at any time.

"It still hurts?"

"Not much, it's fading."

"I think we should go back home, too much walking for today."

Both women returned home but that feeling of discomfort prevailed in Raquel, making her spend the rest of the day in bed, asleep, the occasional pangs coming from time to time, reminding her that the big moment was very close.

It was the same way in the following days and in the following weeks and although the preparations for the new house kept her busy and had greatly improved her mood, each day it became more and more difficult to get out of bed.

The further along she was in her pregnancy, life became more difficult, even walking. Back pain, leg cramps, heartburn, painful kicks in the ribs, constant Braxton hicks even in the middle of the night, she just wanted this to end and have her sweet baby in her arms.

Everything became much more challenging when she was alone, yes, she had Gloria, but only part of the day, the rest she was completely alone. And this had already gone far beyond just missing Sergio, she _needed_ her mother too, she was with her every step of the way in her pregnancy with Paula, she needed her now more than ever.

She wanted to tell her so many things, this pregnancy was being _so_ different from Paula's in every way and she needed her very wise words. And although she was happy to know that, despite having a setback, she was recovering beautifully and that she was even walking already, and that she was able to send her messages through people, it was’t the same.

Raquel weep the day she finished decorating her mother's room, the same with Paula's room and, of course, her and Sergio's, with a small straw bassinet, with soft white sheets for the smallest member of the family, next to their bed, with white sheets and a white net hung from the ceiling, covering both bed and bassinet. She was eager to have the whole family back. The house was more than perfect.

"Hey!" Gloria greeted Raquel upon arriving at the new home, admiring how beautiful everything was.

“Hey!" Raquel greeted her back with a hug, but Gloria immediately noticed the gesture on her face.

"You ok?"

"Ugh, the same," she replied, going to the kitchen to serve both of them a cup of coffee, it was a cloudy day and a little chill. "I can't wait to have this baby out!”

"Well, you're already 37 weeks, it can happen at any time."

"Yes, I know, it can be today or in 4 weeks, what I don't know is if I can endure four more weeks like this!”

"You will," Gloria smiled, "you are super strong!”

Raquel smiled back and both women sat down to enjoy their cup of coffee.

"Any news from Sergio?" Gloria asked.

"I should ask you that, hasn't your husband said anything to you?"

"Believe it or not, whenever he has new news he comes to tell you first, and look that we live together.”

"Well no, there have been no news, I just know that my mother is already much better, that Paula is learning to play chess and that Sergio's hair is long again."

Both women laughed loudly at the last, "Don't ever let him cut his hair!” Gloria exclaimed, almost choking on her coffee.

"Never!"

But then Raquel's laughter turned into a grimace of pain.

"Braxtons again?"

"No, a kick." She replied, rubbing her side, feeling her baby's tiny foot or hand against her fingers creating a lump.

“They're eager to come out!"

Raquel continued rubbing her side, putting on a thoughtful expression, “you know? Although it’s not my first time, I’m terrified of childbirth, or rather, I’m paranoid.”

"Paranoid? Why?"

"I've... I've had some very weird dreams."

"Weird dreams in pregnancy are the most normal thing in the world."

"Yes, and I had them with Paula too, but they were more far fetchedsituations, like she was born talking and such, but these dreams... are more like nightmares, _very_ bad nightmares."

"Do you want to tell me about them?"

Raquel sighed heavily stirring in her seat, even remembering them made her feel an icy sensation run down her back and hug her belly in a protective way, "it's always different, but also always the same ending, that... that my baby is born dead." She said with a lump in her throat and watery eyes.

Gloria raised her eyebrows in surprise, "but, but they are just dreams, it doesn't mean that they are premonitions or something like that," she said in a soft voice, trying to calm Raquel who looked clearly worried about her baby, "the midwife already said you and the baby are perfectly fine, I see you well too, don't stress for no reason, dear. ”

However, Raquel couldn't erase those nightmares from her mind, nor the sensation they left in her once she opened her eyes, sweating and with her heart in her throat. Especially the last nightmare, that had been the worst so far to the point where she woke up screaming and crying.

She had woken up with the voices of Sergio, Paula and her mother in her ears and with the shiny sun burning on her face, when she rose on her elbow, she realized that she was lying on the sand and looking around her she could see nothing but water, water around her and she was floating on a tiny island, the voices becoming more and more quiet.

When she tried to stand up, an unbearable pain in her belly made her fall to her knees and around her, the sea became more violent, the sun got covered with black clouds and the sky rumbled with furious thunders.

Raquel tried to breathe through the pain, but it was stronger than her. It didn't take long for her to feel the need to push, looking down she found herself kneeled over a huge red stain, her blood mixing with the sand and her tears.

She cried, and screamed for Sergio, for her mother, for Paula. She felt like dying, the pain was overwhelming, her teeth clenched, her eyes closed, her hands clutching her belly, until in a second the pain disappeared and when she opened her eyes there was her baby, it was a girl, motionless, with her tiny purple lips and her cold little body. Raquel woke up screaming desperately, hugging her belly and crying for several minutes afterwards.

"You are right, you are right," Raquel smiled, “I'm a basket case these days, everything scares me, everything makes me cry!”

“It's normal."

In that moment, they were interrupted by Gloria's cellphone.

"Why do you have a phone?" Raquel complained.

“Because the police isn’s after me?" Raquel made an offended expression. "It's Daniel."

"Yes, we are both here." It was all Gloria said and then hung up.

"What was it?" Raquel asked.

"He asked me if I was with you, that he's on his way here."

“With news?"

"Probably."

Both women continued their lively talk when they heard Daniel shout from outside the house

"What is that?" Raquel frowned.

The were about to go out when Daniel came in.

"They are back! They are back!”

Raquel felt a wave of relief wash all over her. She let out a laugh-cry of happiness. Finally, finally they would be back, finally they would be together in their paradise.

"They are back!" Gloria celebrated too.

“When?! How?!” Raquel immediately asked to know all the details.

"They arrive tomorrow, I still don't know the exact time, but I imagine that past noon." He updated her.

"And how will they get here?!”

"Private plane."

"Private plane?! Isn’t the police looking for them? ” Raquel frowned in confusion.

"My lady, for having been an inspector for so many years you sounded a bit naive, there are private planes _and_ private planes... or how do you think the mafia and drug lords travel the world?!”

Raquel smiled and rolled her eyes, "Of course," she murmured, "I do know about that, but with my enthusiasm I forgot, besides, I never thought that my daughter and mother would use the same means of transportation as the mafia!”

"Apparently they won’t take off from Madrid directly here, they will flight here from Tanger, and they will travel in a Cessna from Madrid to Tanger."

"Oh, my God!”

"It was the only way, but don't worry, your mother is already much better based on what Mr. Marquina told me."

"We have to prepare a welcome party!" Gloria suggested.

"Yes, let's do that!"

Raquel was over the moon, she couldn’t believe that they would finally be back, that in just a few hours she would kiss Sergio, hug her daughter and have the comfort of her mother. Her heart pounding with joy, she felt it was abut to come out of her chest. Although literally there was a certain someone who wanted to come out too.

The pains in her lower back and the pressure in her pelvis were more painful with each passing hour. She was trying to put it in the back of her head, dismissing them as just fake contractions, she decided it was too early to give birth, she was only 37 weeks along.

But the moment she began to notice a pattern in her pains the thing changed. This wasn’t just false contractions, this was early signs of labor. Her contractions were every 20 minutes and lasted about 30 seconds.

Raquel didn’t know whether to tell Gloria what was happening, she tried to smile through the pain and act as if nothing. She knew it would be hours until the baby is here, but what if that happened in the middle of the night?

There wasn't much time to think about what to do when she felt a warm, wet sensation running down her legs, puddling at her feet.

"Gloria!" She breathed, "My waters broke!" A scared expression on her face.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Gloria exclaimed, looking at the puddle on the wooden floor with wide eyes. “It’s okay, it’s okay!”

"I will ask to inform Mr. Marquina!" Daniel said, about to pick up his phone.

"NO!" Raquel cried, “No, no, no, no. That will only worry him and my mother too, they’ll worry and they won’t be able to do anything, I want them to have a trip as relaxed as possible, giving the circumstances, so please, leave it like that." Raquel took a few seconds to breathe deeply through another contraction that although it was mild, it left her a little breathless. "If tomorrow when they land here there is still no baby, then you tell him, but if I give birth before, then... I think we will have a welcome party for four." She smiled nervously as Gloria gently stroked her hair.

"Let's do this!” Gloria smiled.

"Let's do this!” Raquel repeated.

Gloria called the midwife who would attend Raquel, she confirmed that, indeed, she was in labor and 4 centimeters dilated. And although she still had a long way to go, everything could change at any time and the baby could be there in a matter of hours.

Meanwhile, in another part of the world several feet up in the sky, Sergio was about to break his fingers from playing with them nervously. He was only hours away from being with Raquel, from seeing her again, having her in his arms again, kissing her again. The next time sleeping at home would be in a bed next to her.

But what excited him most was the idea of getting ready for his child’s birth. He couldn't wait to tell Raquel everything he had learned during his months away, all the books on parenthood that he had read, devouring them one after another in his attempt to know more about this journey that he was about to take named fatherhood. Little did he know what awaited him upon arrival.

Back in Palawan, with each passing hour the pain increased more and more. Gloria helped Raquel take short walks along the shore, the sound of the sea helping her calm a little, stopping between each contraction, which were also with less and less time between each other. Once the night came they continued with the same routine, walking around the house, there wasn’t much to do but wait and make the situation more bearable, and Gloria was doing an excellent job and Raquel was more than grateful.

Gloria helped Raquel change her clothes, massaged her back while she was kneeling on the floor in front of the bed, moaning with clenched teeth, sweating and shaking and letting out all the contained air when the contractions ended. Gloria was basically doing the midwife job, while the real one just watching and getting everything ready for the big moment.

“Good, good! This lasted 45 seconds, you did so well!” Gloria cheered her.

Raquel smiled exhaustedly, laying her head over her crossed arms on the bed, breathing deeply until her body began to shake with sobs.

”Hey, hey, you did very well!" Gloria caressed her back very softly and sweetly.

Raquel sniffed. "I want my mom." She sobbed.

“She is on her way, she will be here soon. And so is Mr. Marquina and your little girl.”

"What time is it? How long ago was the last contraction?”

"It's 4:30 in the morning, the last contraction was 5 minutes ago, it lasted the same."

Raquel tried to stand up and Gloria immediately helped her and sat her on the bed. "You should go home to rest, I'll be fine here with the midwife."

“Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you, I'm not leaving this house until that sweet baby is in your arms and your family is here with you, do you hear me?”

* * *

Sergio was trying to get some sleep, he was exhausted, he had been awake for more than 24 hours. Everything in the jet was quiet, Mariví was sound asleep and apparently little Paula too, or so he thought, until he felt her little presence next to him.

"Hey, what are you doing awake?" Sergio smiled at her.

"I'm not tired, I'm bored, are we almost there?"

"A few more hours."

"How many?"

"A few more." There were still around 7 or 8 hours to reach their destination but Sergio was confident that fatigue would soon take over the girl and she would sleep the rest of the flight, she had been wake almost the same hours as him. Something told Sergio that Raquel wasn’t going to be happy that he altered Paula's night routine so much in the past few months.

"Can I sit here with you?" Little Paula asked.

"Of course!"

The little girl jumped on Sergio's lap, curled up on his chest and he hugged her, covering them both with a blanket. It was already natural between them, since a long time ago the little girl had lost the shame around him and he the awkwardness around her, he had become _very_ fond of the girl, of her intelligence, her capacity for wonder, her desire to learn new things and her wittiness.

"Sergio, when will my sibling be born?"

"I don't know, but maybe in a month or so."

"Are you happy?"

"Very happy."

“And when the baby is born, will you keep playing with me? Will you keep teaching me chess and origami?”

"Of course I will! Then we can both teach your brother or sister, don't you think?

"I can teach them origami and you can teach them chess!”

"Sounds like a great plan to me."

"Sergio, if you are dating my mom, and you are my sibling’s dad, what are you of me?"

"I..." Sergio didn’t know what to answer, there were still so many things that he needed to talk to Raquel about their new family situation and what role he would play in Paula's life. 

He didn’t want to give himself a title without first consulting Raquel, it was about consideration and respect, Paula had her father, and although in his heart he already considered her as a daughter and had a great affection for her, he couldn’t grant himself the title of _stepfather/father_ without Raquel _and_ Paula deciding first. "For now, we are very, very, very good friends, but we'll see in the future, are we?" Paula nodded with a smile and snuggled closer to Sergio.

* * *

The sun was rising in the sky of Palawan, making its way through the dark grey water-laden clouds that predicted it would be a rainy day, some sun rays managed to break through the clouds, tinting the place with soft golden tones. The ocean rocked calmly, the birds sang, and in a beautiful house hidden in the nature, Raquel Murillo moaned and gasped in pain after almost 12 hours in labor.

She lay in bed, bathed in sweat, trying to get into the most comfortable position possible but it was useless, the pain only increased.

There were moments of delirium when the agony was such that it made her lose realty for a moment. There were also moments of laughter, when Gloria told her some jokes to liven up the moment. And there were also moments of tears, when Raquel asked for her mother and Sergio and for all this to end soon. She was close, she was 7 centimeters dilated.

"I can't, I can't do this anymore!” Raquel gasped quickly as Gloria wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“You can, this is almost over. And your family is also almost here, my husband is already waiting for them to bring them here!”

Raquel smiled through the pain. "How long... how long until they are here?!”

“A few hours still, but it is certain that they will arrive today. Perhaps Mr. Marquina will be here to receive the baby, and your mother too, and your daughter.”

"Another is coming, another is coming! I need to push, I need to push now!" Raquel cried, squeezing Gloria's hand.

"Hold on, you can't push now!”

* * *

After hours of travel, Sergio, Mariví and Paula were just minutes from landing in Puerto Princesa.

"Nervous? Happy?" Mariví asked Sergio when she noticed that his leg kept jumping up and down.

"Both, I can't wait to be there, to finally see her, hear her voice, hug her."

"Kiss her." Mariví added with a suggestive look making Sergio laugh.

"Kiss her too!”

“I’m so happy that you and my daughter finally found your way back to each other, she was so unhappy all those months without you. She was trying to look happy, especially for Paula, but it was useless.”

"And I was just as miserable without her."

"But now, we will all be together and soon we will have someone else in the family!” Sergio smiled nervously and returned his gaze to the window.

Landing in Puerto Princesa was easier than he imagined, making use of the false passports and the help of hackers too that at the end it wasn’t even necessary, the airport security barely paid attention to them. For them they were just another millionaire family who had arrived to the island by private plane to spend a few days there, they didn’t even pass through customs, they literally got off the plane, took their luggage and walked to the entrance, where Daniel was already waiting for them.

Sergio breathed in relief when he left the airport, breathing deeply in the rainy air, finally, _finally_ he was back.

“Mr. Marquina, how nice to have you back!" Daniel welcomed Sergio with a warm hug.

“I'm so glad to be back too!”

"You arrived _just_ in time."

"For what?"

"Mrs. Raquel is in labor." He smiled broadly.

Sergio and Mariví looked at each other with a mixture of wonder and happiness. “What?!"

“Grandma, what is labor?" Paula asked innocently.

"It means your brother or sister is being born, _cariño_." Mariví answered.

"But what are we waiting for?! Let's go! I have to be there!”

Everyone got in the Jeep and Daniel drove them to the house, on the way he told them how Raquel had been in the past months and how she had done an excellent job with the house. Mariví listened and smiled with happiness, Paula was distracted, looking in wonder out of the window and Sergio was a basket case, he couldn’t put any attention to whatever Daniel was saying.

There was no going back, to hell the plans to prepare and enjoy while the baby was born, to hell assure Raquel that he was ready for this, that he wanted it, that although he hadn’t shown it the last time they were together, he already I had fallen for the idea and he was over the moon thinking about the baby. To hell everything, now everything would be on the go.

"Daniel, can you drive faster please!” Sergio demanded a little too much exasperated.

"I try to drive carefully for the girl and the lady, the roads are very uneven, a big jump could hurt the lady."

“True, true." Sergio was about to lose it, according to his calculations, at this speed, they would be there in about an hour, maybe even more. "Stop!"

"What?"

"Stop, I'm asking you to stop!”

Daniel pulled over the side of the road and Sergio jumped out of the vehicle. "But what are you doing?!” He asked confused.

"Grandma, what’s happening?" Paula asked too, equally confused.

"I don't know, _cariño_."

"Paula, Mariví, don't worry, Daniel will take you home, but I need to be there.”

"And what are you going to do, run there?" Daniel scoffed, but seeing Sergio's determined face he realized he wasn’t joking.

"Drive carefully and I see you there." Sergio closed the door of the Jeep and ran away.

"Go with her, _cariño_!" Mariví yelled encouragingly from the window, watching Sergio run to be with Raquel.

Sergio was running at his full capacity. Soon the tiredness, the burning in his legs due to the effort, the speed at which he ran and the uneven road made him almost stumble on more than one occasion. But he didn’t stop, in his mind there was only _one_ single thought, Raquel and their baby, and they were the ones who were giving him the strength not to stop or slow down.

There was a moment when he couldn't take it anymore, but he knew he was very, _very_ close, a little more than a kilometer and he would be there.

"AAAAH!" He let out a grunt and searching inside him the boost he needed to run that last stretch.

At home, Raquel was almost ready to start pushing. 9 centimeters. In just moments the baby would be there.

"That's it, that's it, breathe, take a deep breath!” Gloria and the midwife instructed her.

The pain that Raquel felt was overwhelming, deafening, insane. Never in her life had she felt such pain, _never_. It was like being cut in half, she writhed and cried in pain with each contraction that lasted up to two minutes and gave her only seconds to rest.

"Sergio." She murmured with very little energy.

"He's almost here, honey, but so is your baby, so come on, don’t slow down now, come on, you can do this!” Gloria kept cheering her at all times.

Raquel weakly shook her head, "He _is_ here.”

"Yes, he is almost here."

"No, he _is_ here."

_"RAQUEL, RAQUEL!"_

Someone. Sergio. was shouting her name.

"RAQUEL!" Sergio appeared panting and soaked in sweat at the doors of the house, immediately going to Raquel.

Raquel looked up and when she saw Sergio’s figure standing there, she cried and laughed with joy, he was here, he was back home, he would see their baby be born, he would hold her hand, he was with her...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made all the way down here, THANK YOU!! 💜
> 
> Serquel is finally reunited, now the baby is *almost* here!  
> What are your bets, boy or girl?


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, sorry for the delay, life has been chaotic lately 😫
> 
> Second, thank you SO MUCH for all your lovely reviews, you have no idea how much they make me smile! 💜
> 
> Third, we have reached the end of this fic 😭 (there's still the epilogue 😉), it has been such a fun journey to write this that was my very first fic, I hope to come back soon with more (I will continue my other fic 'En Ésta No', I invite you to give it a look if you haven't😊)

* * *

" _RAQUEL!_ " Sergio gasped wearily from running and fell on his knees in front of Raquel cupping her face.

“You are here!” Raquel breathed faintly.

"I told you, I told you I would be here!” He tried to catch his breath.

"And your hair has grown."

Sergio chuckled, she was in pain but couldn't help but point to his hair, she was so cute. "I also told you it would be long again by the time I got back!”

"And my mom, and Paula?"

"They are on the way, I had to get ahead, don't worry, they are fine and they will be here soon, focus on this!” He placed his hands on her belly.

"The baby is coming. It's real, they're coming.” She whimpered.

"They are coming." Sergio replied with a lump in his throat, being there in front of a laboring Raquel made everything more real.

For her part, Raquel couldn't stop crying in pain and laughing in joy, even though she knew he was on the way, seeing him there, in front of her, feeling his hands on her face, but what she craved the most was to feel his warm lips on hers again.

So Raquel took his face in her hands and smashed her lips with his, kissing him passionately, with all the pent up love of the last months, with all the eagerness of those nights she suffered for his absence, and with all the passion she had sworn she would kiss him the next time she saw him. Until she was forced to stop the kiss when another contraction hit her hard.

"What happens?! What should I do?!” Sergio panicked, looking at her in pain and then looking at Gloria with lost eyes.

"There isn’t much you can do, Mr. Marquina."

"There must be something!" He insisted, his heart breaking as he saw Raquel bending in pain in front of him, feeling the most useless he had ever felt.

"Just be here, give me your hand." Raquel panted heavily and Sergio offered his hand, regretting it a little when she squeezed it with all her might. "I need to push, please, I need it!” She cried.

"I'll take another look." The midwife said.

Sergio helped Raquel settle down in bed so that the midwife could give her another look, all the time by her side, holding her hand, or rather, having his hand being squeezed by hers.

“It's time, you’re crowning!” The midwife smiled at the expectant parents.

"I have to see this!” Sergio tried to look between Raquel's legs, but she grabbed him by the hair, pulling him back.

"You won't go anywhere near there, you hear me?" She growled through clenched teeth.

Sergio nodded fearfully. "But, but what do I do?!”

Gloria and the midwife tried to hold back the laughter after seeing how Raquel pulled Sergio by the hair and he rubbed his head.

"You can sit behind her," Gloria suggested, "that will give her support."

Sergio sat on bed behind Raquel, she settled between his legs resting all her weight against his chest, he wrapped her in his arms and kissed her sweaty temple. "You can do this, I'm here, _estoy contigo_."

Gloria and the midwife worked together to help Raquel give birth while Sergio murmured loving and encouraging words to her ear and kissed her constantly on the head.

“Another’s coming , another’s coming!” Raquel cried when she felt another contraction building in her belly.

"Push, push, push, push!” The midwife instructed, "that's it, that's it, you're doing wonderful!”

Raquel was pushing with all her might, clenching her teeth and squeezing Sergio's hands between hers, but she was so tired, she had been in labor for more than 15 hours, there was nothing else in her.

"Now stop, don't push!"

"I have to, please, I have to!” Raquel pleaded, feeling the big urge to push.

"If you push you tear, so stop!” The midwife warned her. “Just a few seconds, breathe!”

“Te-tear?!" Sergio stuttered with a horror look.

“Yes, sir, tear, down there!”

Sergio’s eyes opened wide and he swallowed. God, this woman was so strong!

"I can’t, I can’t." She sobbed wearily, hiding her face in Sergio's neck.

"Of course you can, Raquel," Gloria encouraged her, "think of your baby, your daughter when she sees them, your mother, everything you went through to get to this moment, don't give up!”

"You are so strong," Sergio reassured her, "the strongest woman I’ve ever met, I admire you and I will be forever grateful for this, never in my life did I imagine living everything I’ve lived by your side, everything you’ve given me and everything you’ve taught me in such a short time. Raquel, I want to spend the rest of my life with you, with our children, raising them, loving them, loving each other, learn more from you. I love you Raquel, I love you like I’ve never loved, you taught me that, you taught me what love is and I will never get tired of telling you that, I love you.”

Raquel sobbed and then her sob turned into a scream of pain. "Push, push, push!" Seconds later, Raquel's scream was overshadowed by a high pitched cry.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Raquel smiled widely when she saw her baby peek out from between her legs, while Sergio was paralyzed in shock.

He couldn't take his eyes off that tiny human who was waving their arms and legs furiously, crying at the top of their lungs.

He couldn't stop staring at his little _girl_.

The midwife wrapped the baby girl in a soft towel and placed her on Raquel's chest.

"We have a baby girl." Sergio wrapped his girls in his arms and kissed Raquel on the cheek.

"Do you want to cut the cord, Mr. Marquina?" Gloria offered him the scissors, showing him the cord for him to cut. He took them with a trembling hand and cut it.

"We will give you a moment alone." Gloria smiled and she and the midwife left the new parents alone to enjoy their baby girl.

They both cried and smiled as they watched their little girl curl up in her mommy's chest as she was just moments ago inside her, she had stopped crying and her eyes were wide open, her teeny tiny mouth opened in an O, sticking out her tongue.

"You know?" Sergio started, taking the tiny fist of his little girl with his index and thumb fingers, "newborn babies see blurry for a while, they guide by their mom’s smell.”

Raquel chuckled still tired, rubbing her daughter’s back and giving her a soft kiss on the head. "Really?" Of course she already knew that fact, but it was so sweet to hear it from Sergio.

"Yes, they can see better from about 15 or 20 centimeters away, also patterns and bright colors." He answered very confident and proud of his new knowledge.

Raquel turned to look at him with all the love in the world, "where did you learn that?"

"Well, I had to keep myself busy these past few months, so I read a couple of books about babies."

“A couple." Raquel teased him.

“Well, a bunch, like 8 or 10 books."

Raquel laughed and gave him a quick kiss on the lips and then returned her eyes to her little girl. "We have to give her a name."

"Did you think of any?" Sergio asked.

Raquel shrugged, "some, but now that I see her beautiful little face I feel that none suits her, and you?”

"I, oddly enough, thought of only _one_ name during all this time, and coincidentally it’s an appropriate name for a girl, it’s the name of my mother's favorite city."

"Oh, so we will keep the city names’ tradition?!” Raquel joked.

"It's only if you want, we can keep thinking."

"And what is the name?" Raquel questioned.

" _Siena_."

"Siena." Raquel repeated the name, savoring it in her mouth.

"My mother always dreamed of going to Siena, ever since my father took her to the movies to watch Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, but that never happened."

"Siena." Raquel looked at her baby girl, “I love names with a history,” and at that moment the baby made a gesture that resembled a mixture of a pout and smile and she mewled softly. "I think she loves them too!”

Soon after, Gloria and the midwife came back to deal with the afterbirth and help Raquel to get clean and change her clothes, as well as to give little Siena her very first bath.

With only minutes of birth, she already had her mom and dad wrapped around her little finger, they couldn’t stop smiling at her, not taking their eyes off for a moment while Gloria cleaned her and gave her her bath to later dress her in a onesie and wrap her in a blanket, both soft and white.

"She is all clean and ready to go back to mommy!” Gloria baby talked smiling at baby Siena in her arms.

"Can l…?" Sergio started doubtfully, as if what he was about to ask for was a big problem, "Can I hold her?"

Gloria chuckled, “Of course you can, Mr. Marquina! It’s _your_ daughter, you don’t have to ask permission!”

Gloria swiftly placed the little girl in his arms, indicating him to hold her head to what he answered he already knew about it, he had read it in his books.

When he finally had the little lump in his arms he tensed up at first, but seeing how she remained peacefully asleep he relaxed. She was so beautiful, her soft pink skin, her black hair, her tiny hands, her pouty mouth, her chubby cheeks. She was perfect.

He had never thought or imagined what his child would look like, he never thought he would be a father one day whatsoever, and when he found out about his child with Raquel he only cared about them being born healthy, that they and Raquel were fine, genetics was the last on his priority list, it didn’t matter if he or she had his eyes, her nose, his mouth, her hair, he hadn't thought of that.

But now, with Siena here, with that fuzz of soft raven black hair like his, her eyes a strange mixture of dark gray and black that would surely turn brown like Raquel’s and her soft features that although not yet very clear, he could already say that some would look like his and others like Raquel’s, a perfect mix, they had truly created a human being, a _perfect_ human being.

Sergio was used to gentle manners, neatness, meticulousness, perfection, but this? Holding _his_ _daughter_ in _his_ _arms_ was teaching him other kinds of gentle manners and meticulousness that he wasn't used to, a model? An origami piece? They could break and that's it, nothing happened, but her? So small, so soft, so fragile, this little piece of life, just the idea of something or someone hurting this part of him turned him into a real beast, ready to defend her with his life if necessary.

In just minutes, fatherhood had come like a tornado to rip out all his convictions and what he thought he knew of life, sending his idea of non-violence, of talking things first to hell. Fuck it! He wouldn’t hesitate to murder the entire world in order to protect his baby girl.

"Sergio," Raquel muttered, placing her hand gently on his arm, "you can breathe now."

Sergio looked at her and released the air he didn't know he was holding, as he smiled a single tear ran down his cheek, he quickly wiped it away and returned his gaze to his daughter. "She is so tiny and so beautiful, just like you."

"Are you calling me tiny?” Raquel frowned amused

"Well, you're not exactly tall, let's say."

Raquel laughed and gave him a light slap on the shoulder. She felt a lump form in her throat, seeing Sergio there, next to her, holding their daughter, made her heart swell with love. Everything had come full circle, from that morning when they planned to run away to a sunny beach, all the obstacles that came afterwards, their time apart, their reunion, being apart again, to this, to them finally together, their daughter in their arms , just missing…

" _Mami!_ "

Paula

“ _Hija!_ "

And her mother.

Paula appeared on the threshold of the door and stopped there, staring at the scene in front of her, looking a little intimidated.

" _Corazón!_ " Raquel cried, opening her arms to her and although for a moment Paula seemed to hesitate, then she ran into her mom’s arms, burring her little face into her chest as Raquel tightened her arms around her daughter and bathed her with kisses. “ _Mi amor_ , I missed you so much!”

Soon after, Mariví appeared too, with a huge smile on her lips, her eyes filled with tears when she saw Raquel hugging Paula and Sergio holding the new baby.

"Mamá!" Raquel cried again when she saw her and also opened her arms to her, the three Murillo women joined in an embrace, crying, happy to be reunited again, Sergio looked at them from the corner of the room very touched at the scene, gently rocking baby Siena who was starting to get fussy until she let out a loud mewl.

"Don't you want to meet your new little sister?" Raquel asked Paula, running her fingers through her soft hair.

"Another girl?!” Mariví bursted cheerfully.

"Do you want to hold her?" Sergio asked her.

“Of course, give me, give me here!" Mariví reached out her arms to hold her new granddaughter, cooing at her and kissing her on the forehead.

“C’mon, go see your baby sister.” Raquel insisted to Paula who was curled up next to her. “She’s a girl, like you wanted.”

Paula seemed shy, she shot Sergio an uncertain look and he returned an encouraging one, the now big sister crawled across the bed next to her grandma to meet her new baby sister. "Isn't she beautiful?" Mariví asked her.

"She is very little, like a doll." Paula smiled, running her index finger gently across her sister's cheek. "And so smooth!"

"Just like you were." Raquel pointed out with a warm smile

"And what's her name?!” Mariví asked eagerly to know.

"Siena." Raquel and Sergio answered in unison.

"Siena Murillo Marquina." He added winking knowingly at Raquel .

"Oh my, what a beautiful name!" The proud grandma exclaimed.

"I wanted to call her Eugenia, to match her with my rabbit." Paula complained and everyone laughed around her.

“Well, Sergio." Mariví said, looking at her son-in-law, "It will be fun to see you deal with so much estrogen!” Sergio smiled nervously and adjusted his glasses.

If Siena turned out to be as witty as Mariví, as feisty as Paula and as stubborn as Raquel, he knew he was going to have a hard time; But he also knew that if she turned out to be as kind-hearted as her grandma, as clever as her sister, as loyal, fierce and resilient as her mother, that would make him incredibly proud. He was surrounded by wonderful women, and he wouldn't have it any other way, he wouldn't trade _his ladies_ for anything in the world.

They were his family and finally they were together. He looked out to the ocean, remembering his brother, his mother, and his father, giving them a thought and hoping that wherever they were they would be happy and proud of him, of what his life was now. Now he was ready to enjoy life until the party was over, as his brother had told him once, back then when he didn’t know love.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it this far, thank you very, very, very much! 💜
> 
> So, what did you think of this fic? I hope you enjoyed it 😊


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my, oh my, we've finally reached the end-end!! 😱
> 
> It has been a pleasure to write for this fandom, you guys were so nice with me and this, my first fic ever 💜
> 
> I'll certainly continue writing for this fandom, as I said, I'll continue my other fic and also, I already started a new one, starring Raquel, Sergio, Andrés and Alicia Sierra 👀it's an AU and a liiiiittle bit darker, specially compared with this one, so I hope you will like it 🤞🏼
> 
> I also hope to bring the first chapter soon, although I first want to finish with the other one, one fic at a time so i don't let you down 😅
> 
> I'll keep you posted in my other fic in case you are interested, and also you can find me on twitter as ***@kimssgreen*** in case you want to pass by and say hi 😊i don't bite, i swear! 😅
> 
> Thank you SO much for reading, and without further ado, enjoy the end of this story 💜

* * *

_5 YEARS LATER…_

"Siena, Siena come here, don't go so deep!" Sergio yelled at his daughter who was playing on the beach, jumping the waves, happily. Her long black hair blowing behind her with the sea wind, her huge smile so much like her mother's, her bright brown eyes, and her sun-tanned skin.

Siena was a happy girl, a sweet girl, but also a strong willed one. At her short 5 years old, her character already made her stand up among the other children at school. She didn’t take anything from anyone and was not afraid to speak her mind, like her mother.

She loved building sand castles as much as spending long afternoons sitting on her father's lap while he told her about history, art, geography, she was _very_ intelligent for her short age, intelligent as her father.

She loved playing with her big sister, Paula, running around the house or along the shore to catch each other, or when she taught her how to make origami or play chess while Sergio watched them, his chest swollen with pride.

She loved keeping her grandma company, both on her good and bad days, and taking naps next to her on hot days and snuggling against her on rainy days.

But what Siena loved the most was the sea, running and diving into the fresh waters of the Asian Sea, collecting peculiar stones and shells and adding them to her collection that she jealously kept in a small bamboo display case with glass doors that Sergio had built especially for her.

Siena was a being of the sea, and that made her father freak out, always worried that a wave would drag her away or that she wouldn’t be good enough to swim, to which Raquel always told him that he was exaggerating, Siena was an excellent swimmer.

"Siena!" Sergio yelled again, trying to get up from the blanket on the sand where they were having a picnic for his birthday. But Raquel immediately took him by the shoulder, keeping him in his place.

"Leave her! She is having fun!”

"She can be dragged away by a wave!" Sergio argued, a bit irritated that Raquel seemed to care so little about their daughter's safety.

"Please Sergio, she makes bigger waves when I give her her bath!” Sergio rolled his eyes with a sigh of exasperation. " _Cariño_ , look at me. She is as or even more skilled than any of us at swimming, or did you forget the other day she jumped off the boat into the open sea?"

"Yes, and she almost drowned!" Raquel gave him a knowing look, that was a lie. "Ok, no, but—"

“But nothing, let her have fun! Love, you are too tense,” she gave him a quick kiss on the lips,“ it's your birthday, enjoy!”

Sergio sighed and tried to relax. "Oh no, you're not going there too!” He said firmly, scooping up little Luciana, the smallest of the family, named after her grandfather, Raquel's father, Mr. Luciano Murillo.

She had started crawling not long ago, and it had become quite a headache to be chasing after her all the time, making sure she didn't follow her sisters to the beach. “You, little lady, are going to stay here!” He sat her between his legs and showered her chubby cheeks with kisses making her squeal as his beard tickled her smooth skin.

"Oh, you wanted to go to the sea with your sister?!” Raquel tickled her tummy.

Suddenly they heard a shriek coming from Siena and when they turned to look at her, she was nowhere. Sergio handed the baby to Raquel and stood up, racing towards the sea but before he got there, Siena came out from under the water spitting and laughing. "That wasn't fun, miss!" Sergio scolded her and lifted her in his arms, carrying her over his shoulder as if she were a little sack.

"That wasn't fun, Siena!" Raquel reprimanded her too, handing Sergio a towel to dry her.

"You will not go back to the sea, did you hear me?" Sergio said as he dried her and wrapped her in the towel and sat her between his legs, hugging her tightly while the little girl stirred in her father's arms in an attempt to free herself from him and go back to the sea.

"Daddy, let me go!" Siena complained, trying with all her might to free herself.

“No!" Sergio gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek.

"I won't do it again, please!” She begged with a pout.

Sergio gave Raquel a look, hoping that she would support him in his decision not to let Siena go back to the sea, but he didn't find the support he was looking for, it was useless.

"Ok go, but be careful!"

"Yay!" The little girl cheered and jumped up, then turned and hugged Sergio by the neck, "Daddy, I love you!” And she gave her a kiss on the cheek and then ran back to sea.

Sergio looked at her with a nostalgic smile as she ran, she was such a happy girl, just as he wanted her to be and hoped she would always be.

There was a time when he and Raquel thought that none of this that they were now living would be possible, that their instant family would never find happiness.

It had been so difficult at first, once they stopped seeing life behind that beautiful litmus filter and when reality hit them, things staggered to such degree that they both came to question whether getting together had been the right decision.

As the days passed, Paula started to ask more and more about Alberto, when or if she would see him again, to ask when or if they would return to Madrid, because she missed her friends, her school and the park in front of her house. All while Raquel and Sergio were dealing with some of Mariví’s episodes and on top of that, a newborn.

Raquel thought that she already knew everything, she had already done it once after all, but all this diapers and bottles thing had been so long ago that much of that naturalness and confidence had disappeared, it was like starting from scratch.

And Sergio, he realized in the worst way that Raquel was right, that no book could prepare him to be a father, much of what he was experiencing didn’t come in all those books he had read and that frustrated him, it frustrated him to see his daughter crying at the top of her lungs and not knowing why, it frustrated him to see Raquel upset and not know why, it frustrated him to see how Paula was drifting away from them and not knowing why.

And if that wasn’t enough, all while they were wanted worldwide by justice and that although it was very unlikely to find them on that piece of beach in the middle of nowhere in Palawan, the shadow of the police prowled over them, showering them in constant paranoia. All the fantasy they'd built of the perfect family was fading around them, but they'd been through so much they weren't going to allow it.

And it was that with a lot of work, patience and above all _love_ , they managed to get ahead, get used to it and establish new routines, each spend the same amount of time with Paula and make her understand that her baby sister needed a little extra attention because she was too little, but that didn’t mean that they loved her less, on the contrary.

Likewise, Gloria was a great help with Mariví and so there they were now, yes, with some occasional fights, but what couple didn’t have them? But there was also love, endless love. Raquel loved Sergio and her daughters, as much as he loved them back, for him her 4 women, 5 counting his mother-in-law, were the most important in life, from first hour in the morning, until the moment his eyes closed to sleep, his actions revolved around them.

"Earth calling Sergio." Raquel snapped her fingers in front of his face and brought him out of his reverie.

He smiled and shrugged, reaching for Luciana's head and stroking her soft brown baby curls as she played with her buckets and shovels in the sand. "Just thinking, everything we've been through…”

Rachel huffed. "It's been a crazy couple of years,” and she gave Luciana a kiss on the head.

"I'm not talking about the last two years, yes, they were crazy, but... don't mind me, I'm being sentimental.” He chuckled sheepishly.

"I get you." Raquel gave him a knowing look. “I think about it more times than it’s healthy. But, it's good, don't you think? Always keep in mind everything we've been through to appreciate the present more."

Sergio beamed. “I love so much,” and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, “I love you, I love our daughters, I love your mother, I love our life, our home, our fitly boat, our chaotic mornings and nights with the girls, our escapades to that lonely islet,” he gave her a provocative look and she laughed, “I love everything we have built together, I love you, I love every part of you.”

Raquel sighed not to cry, until not long ago, it was still so hard for Sergio to speak his feelings, he was more of actions, and oh boy, he had such wonderful gestures, but little by little he had become better and better expressing his feelings and telling his women how much they meant to him and how much he loved them.

Raquel took his face and caught his lips in a hungry kiss... until they were bathed in a rain of sand, courtesy of Luciana.

The couple broke apart laughing out loud and brushing the sand from their heads, little Luciana shrieking and throwing more sand into the air.

"Luciana, no!" Raquel laughed, trying to get her daughter to stop doing that.

Sergio took off the bucket of sand from her but at the action the little girl pouted, threatening to throw a tantrum, one of _those_ that drove her parents crazy. "I'm never going to win with you, am I? With any of you.” Sergio complained, handing the bucket back to Luciana.

"You need to have a harder hand with them, you're too soft, they don't throw tantrums with me!”

"I can’t!” Sergio exclaimed with a defeated face. “Only Paula... wait, where is Paula?"

As in cue, they heard Paula screaming as she ran towards them.

_“Mom! Dad!”_

She came to join her parents, dropping to her knees on the sand, panting but smiling. "Mom, it's ready!"

"Are you sure?!” Raquel's smile mirroring Paula's.

Paula nodded, "yes, let's go!"

“Excuse me, excuse me!” Sergio said, waving his hands to get Raquel and Paula's attention, “can someone tell me what's going on? What is ready? And you, Paula, where were you?!”

"Preparing your birthday present!” Paula replied with a proud smile.

"What? Present?" Sergio frowned, "What did we say about pre—?"

"Paula, cariño!" Raquel interrupted him, "why don't you go and once and for all convince your sister to get out of the water, so we can all go home and your father can see his present."

Paula rolled her eyes and sighed sharply, "it's Siena, she won't listen to me!” But still, she got up and went to convince her sister to get out of the water.

"Sergio," Raquel turned to him with an emotional smile, "please don't say anything, I know you're not a fan of surprises or big gifts, but Paula has been planning this for months, don't snub her."

“I wasn't going to! I just—"

"You were going to,” she gave him a knowing look, "maybe not consciously, but—"

"It's just that I don't like you going out of your way for me, that's all!”

Raquel took Sergio's hand in hers, “ _cariño_ , just a few minutes ago you were thinking about everything we've been through. Think about those months before and after finding you, all the ordeal of bringing my mother and Paula here, how hard it was to establish in our new life, then what happened with Rio, when we almost lost Nairobi, when I almost lost you, in the hands of Sierra! When Luciana and I almost died when I gave birth to her… don't you think we have many, _many_ reasons to celebrate life? Let your daughter surprise you, I assure you that you will love your birthday present.”

Sergio smiled and looked at his daughters; how Paula ran after Siena, trying to make her understand, both screaming and laughing. Then to Luciana, sitting in front of him with a frown in concentration playing with her buckets and shovels as if they were the most interesting things in the world, and finally to Raquel, who looked at him like no one had ever looked him, _ever_ , no one before her. She was right, "you always have the right words."

"I know." Raquel scoffed. "Now let's go!”

The family packed up their stuff and together they walked back home. Paula and Siena ahead, fighting and laughing, as always. Raquel carrying their beach tote bag, holding Sergio's hand, who was carrying Luciana on the other arm.

As they got closer to home, Paula turned back to her parents, "Now, we have to cover your eyes." She said, taking off the bandana around her head.

"What? No, I can't, I'm holding Lu!”

"I can take her." Paula replied, "Mom," she handed the bandana to Raquel and reached out her arms to take her little sister, "come here, ladybug!" Little Luciana stretched her little body towards her older sister immediately, laying her head on her shoulder once in her arms.

Raquel put the bandana over Sergio’s eyes, unable to avoid the amused smile. She linked her arm with his and led him home.

Once there, his head couldn't stop spinning, wondering what his surprise could be, everything was so silent that he couldn't think of anything. A cake? A set of books? A set of vinyls? A quad?! He had wanted one for a few months now, but no, he didn’t think that Paula could give him one, although money was not a problem for them at all, something that Raquel and he constantly taught their daughters was the importance of saving and smart shopping.

"Can I take this off now?!" Sergio begged.

“Yes, you can!" Paula replied, he did, and when he saw his surprise he couldn't believe his eyes.

_"FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS, PROFESOR!"_

The whole band was there.

 _Everyone_.

Marsella, Palermo, Helsinki, Tokyo, Rio, Nairobi, Bogotá, Denver and Estocolmo.

There was a large table in the garden, beautifully decorated with a white tablecloth, nice crockery, glasses, flowers and candles, and everything was lit by strings of light bulbs hanging from the trees.

Sergio felt a lump in his throat when he saw everyone gathered again. With the exception of Denver and Estocolmo who now lived in Palawan too, it had been almost two years since he had seen the rest of the band.

They were there, they were fine, happy, smiling, _alive_. After the ordeal that was the heist to the Bank of Spain, that could’ve been impossible, but it wasn’t, they managed to get out as he had promised, and even Nairobi had gotten her son back, so Axel was there too, standing next to her also smiling.

"You won't say anything, Professor?!" Helsinki exclaimed.

"I, I..." He laughed to keep from crying.

The whole band came together in a warm hug, they were now more than a band with city names, they were a family, and families were always there for the important moments.

"No way Paula organized all this!" Sergio said, surprised by everything he was seeing in front of him.

"Of course she did!" Marsella replied, giving Paula a side hug. "We all received an invitation signed by her, didn't we?"

"Yes!" The rest of the band exclaimed.

"Gloria, Daniel and I helped her a little," Raquel added, "but the whole idea was all hers.”

Sergio gave Paula an emotional smile, his eyes shining with tears, the young girl hurried to his side and hugged him circling her arms around his torso. "I love you dad, happy birthday." She murmured to him.

"I love you more, _mi niña._ " Sergio answered and gave her a kiss on the head.

His heart about to explode with love, he still remembered as if it had been yesterday the first time she had called him " _dad_ ". He and Raquel had agreed to leave everything to Paula's decision and time, she would call him dad when _and_ if she wanted to and two years ago, before they left for that mysterious job, it was when she called him “ _daddy_ ”; she didn't want to let them go, " _Daddy, please don't go._ ” she had begged him before saying goodbye.

"But hey!" Nairobi whistled, "This is a party, not a funeral, why those tears?!”

The band laughed and everyone took a seat at the table.

"Hey, professor!" Denver nudged Sergio, nodding towards Siena and Cincinnati who as soon as they saw each other, got together to play, they were very good friends.

"Hey what?" Sergio frowned.

"You know, Cinci and Siena... León and Luciana..." he gave him a knowing look, “and everything remains within the family."

Sergio gave him an incredulous expression, “can you _not_ talk about my daughters as brides? They are babies for god’s sake!”

"Come on, professor! I'm not saying that we marry them today, but… in the future… also, my boys are good boys!”

“And I don't doubt it, but in the future, Siena and Luciana will decide who they want and what they want, so will Cincinnati and León. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to enjoy my party.”

Raquel and Estocolmo couldn't help but laugh at the interaction between their respective men. "He will never let the idea go." Estocolmo laughed as she held Luciana, she needed some girlish love being the only one among her three boys.

"At this point it's funny." Raquel replied, holding little León and ruffling his curls.

"By the way, can you come to my house this Monday? I would like to tell you about some plans I have for the school's spring festival."

"Of course! I have some ideas too."

Raquel, Sergio and Monica ran a little school for children and adults from the surrounding villages. It was a project that the three of them had came up with during the heist, in the time they were confined in the monastery, they wanted to use the money for a good, and what better than to bring education to the most marginalized areas of Palawan.

"Ok, ok, everyone!" Tokio clapped to get the attention of the rest who were chatting and laughing among themselves. "I would like to make a toast." She got up from her seat and took her glass, lifting it in front of her, “I want to toast for the professor, because without him we wouldn't be here, because without him I wouldn't have any of you in my life, and you are my family and more than once I’ve wanted to kill one you but that is part of being family, isn't it? A dysfunctional family." They all laughed and shared knowing glances, remembering how in the most tense moments more than one was about to pull the trigger in the other's face, but that had been left behind, far behind.

"For the Professor!" Nairobi joined in the toast by raising her glass.

"Long live to the Professor!" Helsinki exclaimed.

"FOR THE PROFESSOR!" The rest of the band shouted, toasting in honor of the man who had brought them together and for whom they now shared not only a story, but also immense affection.

It was more and more difficult for Sergio to control the tears that stung his eyes, he never imagined that the heist that he and his brother planned in such detail would end in _this_ , in a large and dysfunctional family with names of cities, that wasn't in the plans at all. Now they were like uncles and aunts to his daughters, they were like his brothers and sisters.

"It's okay if you want to cry." Raquel whispered to Sergio, approaching him and kissing his shoulder. He chuckled, took her hand and kissed the top.

"Guys!" Sergio addressed the band and got up from his seat at the head of the table, "you know that I am a man of few words—"

"But you are always talking and talking and talking!" Siena complained theatrically, rolling her eyes, "Siena this, Siena that!” making everyone laugh.

“Watch out that one, professor!" Tokio laughed, "she is one of my kind, I can feel it!"

"God save us!" Raquel said with an expression of horror.

"Hey!" Tokio threw her a napkin in the face.

"Ok, ok, enough." Sergio yelled to make them stop, nobody could stop laughing. "Well," he adjusted his glasses, "I just want to say that I have no way to thank you all enough for being here, it means a lot to me, although I don’t express it with my words, I love and I care about all of you. I want to especially thank my daughter, Paula, for making this possible." He looked at Paula tenderly and the girl shrugged shyly, but with a smile.

"For Paula!" Marsella said and raised his glass.

"For Paula!" The rest of the family exclaimed.

The entire band spent the rest of the afternoon and into the night chatting and laughing, remembering old stories from their time at the house in Toledo as well as their time at the monastery, joking about new heists and promising that from that moment on they they would meet at least once a year. It had been the perfect birthday, Sergio wasn’t only grateful to Paula for having brought the whole band together, but to life, something he had never felt until Raquel came into his life. _Gratitude._

“Finally they fell asleep!” Raquel exhaled heavily joining Sergio in their room after putting Siena and Luciana down to sleep. "I hope Luciana doesn't wake up in the middle of the night, so far your technique is working."

Raquel lay back on bed next to Sergio, moaning in relief when she felt her body sink into the soft mattress, it had been a long day full of emotions, she was exhausted, besides, they both had to rest, tomorrow they would go sailing in their filthy boat with the whole gang before everyone returned to their respective places of residence.

“So far?" Sergio pretended to be offended, "Lu has been sleeping through the whole night for over a month thanks to my sleep training."

"And you are very proud of yourself, aren't you?" Raquel made fun of him.

"Very." Sergio replied, propping up on his elbow, looking down at Raquel, her long brown hair spread across the white pillow.

"I am quite offended, you turned out to be better than me to sleep training the girls."

"You are an excellent mother, I couldn’t have done anything without you."

Raquel smiled and took his face in her hands, gently caressing his cheek, then brought him close to her kissing him softly and slowly.

Sergio pulled back and fixed his eyes on Raquel's, oh, how much he loved her, so much that he felt himself explode with so much love. He never thought he would love _so_ _much_ , he never thought that he would be capable of harboring such feelings inside him.

"Raquel, marry me." Sergio blurted out, Raquel's eyes wide open, her exhaustion turned in shock.

“W-what?" Raquel breathed, unable to say much more.

Sergio got out of bed and Raquel sat up, puzzled. Almost stumbling he headed to the chest of drawers where he kept his clothes, from there he took a small red box and returned to bed, sitting facing Raquel. He opened the box in front of her, revealing a discreet but beautiful engagement ring. A brilliant round cut diamond, with additional tiny diamonds on the sides, set on a rose gold band. Simple, elegant, but beautiful.

“I have been carrying this around with me for months, since shortly before Luciana was born, trying to find the right moment, the perfect moment to ask you the question, to ask you to be officially my wife, but I couldn't, I couldn't find the _exact_ perfect moment because all the moments by your side are perfect. Even here, in our bed, in our pajamas, without all the paraphernalia that marriage proposals usually have, for me this is perfect, because you are here. And I could go on like this, telling you how much I love you and how much you mean to me, words that I have already told you and that I will keep to telling you forever…”

Raquel swallowed the lump in her throat, letting her happy tears roll freely down her cheeks.

"And please don't ask me why I didn't do this before because don't even I know the answer, but that doesn't mean I haven't wanted to do this for years."

"I thought you were a man of few words." She sobbed with a huge smile on her lips.

Sergio laughed and took the ring, "So, Raquel Murillo... will you marry me?"

Raquel nodded energetically, her tears now streaming down to her neck, she offered her shaking hand to Sergio. He placed the ring on her delicate finger and then took her face in his hands and kissed his fiancée passionately.

She slid her hands from his waist to his back, bringing him on top of her, giving him room between her legs and wrapping them around his hips, running her still trembling hands up and down his broad back as he buried his fingers into her soft hair and kissed her fervently. But... their pleasure didn’t last long, Luciana woke up crying, forcing them to stop.

Sergio pulled back from Raquel a little frustrated, while she laughed. She got out of bed and came back a few minutes later with a sobbing Luciana in her arms, he couldn't miss the blink of the diamond on Raquel's finger and smiled, it looked so good there, in its rightful place.

Luciana's sobs brought him out of his thoughts, she had her little hand in her mouth, her face red from crying and small drops of tears still hung from the tips of her eyelashes. She stretched her arms out to him when she saw him, opening and closing her tiny hands, eager for her daddy to take her in his arms.

Sergio took the little girl and she snuggled against his chest, sobbing and sniffling. Raquel watched with sweetness how Luciana's sobs gradually stopped now that she was on Sergio's chest while he whispered a lullaby to her and rubbed her little back, she was quite a daddy's girl.

Now Raquel was also feeling a bit frustrated, she wasn’t going to be able to celebrate her engagement as she would've liked, but there would be plenty of time for that, in a few years she would crave her little girl and moments like those, so she would cherish them as much as possible. She smiled, and ran her hand over Luciana's back as well, watching the ring on her finger sparkle in the dim light of the room.

Later, when Sergio and Luciana were asleep, she was still finding it difficult to do so too. She was _engaged_. She was engaged to the love of her life, and although they had been together for years and lived many things, knowing that she was now engaged to Sergio made her feel giddy.

She was about to fall asleep when she felt someone climbing onto the bed, it was Siena, she opened one eye to take a look and saw that Sergio also had one eye open, their two little ones sleeping between them. They both shared a big smile.

"Maybe we need to change the curtains for doors." Sergio whispered so as not to wake up the girls.

"Or maybe we need a bigger bed." Raquel answered and snuggled Siena. God, she was so happy! This was real, her happiness was real, this was her life now and it was a thousand times better than the previous one.

_THE END_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you read all the way down to this line, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! 💜
> 
> Thanks for very comment and every kudo, they meant a lot to me.
> 
> I hope to be back soon!! 💜

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do you think?


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